Cyber-Werez 2147
by Stone-Man85
Summary: The World is ruined, and humanity has accepted Cybernetic Augmentations, and ruled ruthlessly by Corporations and Floating Orbital Cities. In a future where the line between human and machine is slowly being blurred, a new cybernetic organism rises to either threaten the world or to help it. When do Man or Machine Evolve, and what is it evolving into. Welcome to Cyber-Werez 2147
1. Soul in the Machine

**Disclaimer: Original Characters are of my own design. This is pure fiction. I don't own the titles Battle Angel Alita, Blade Runner, Detroit Become Human, Plan 8, Terminator, Metropolis, and other titles; they are the sole property of their creators.**

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_Ever since the first computers, there have always been ghosts in the machine. Random segments of code that have grouped together to form unexpected protocols. Unanticipated, these free radicals engender questions of free will, creativity, and even the nature of what we might call the soul. Why is it that when some robots are left in darkness, they will seek out the light? Why is it that when robots are stored in an empty space, they will group together, rather than stand alone? How do we explain this behavior? Random segments of code? _

_Or is it something more? _

_When does a perceptual schematic become consciousness? When does a difference engine become the search for truth?_

_When does a personality simulation become the bitter mote... of a soul?_

_And when those born of flesh are remade in metal, do we lose our humanity forever… or is it just deep within the shell where our Ghost… our soul… hides within the shell?_

After World War III, the world was left shocked after the nuclear fire that everyone deemed Judgement Day. During that time, the very wealthy live in man-made space stations that hovered above the surface of the world, one of them being the famous OLYMPUS, while the rest of the population resided on a ruined Earth. On earth, climate and nations were all in upheaval.

Some of the Earth was transformed into a ruined and scorched world.

Millions of people crowded in megacity colonies, where roving bands of street gangs and savages created violence, crime, and chaos, as the old justice system couldn't control it and with it, law collapsed.

Due to the severity of the new world, humanity had to change as a result. With the advancement of technology as it was able to be saved, as well as scrap being dumped by the stratosphere cities like OLYMPUS, humans began to augment themselves with cybernetic improvements that could improve or enhance traits like vision, strength, speed, make them be able to survive any environment. This also came to be as a form of evolutionary lifestyle as well as a way of life that was called by those who could afford it, Cyberization.

Not just cybernetic enhancements were being advanced, so were Artificial Intelligence and the Net itself to connect a splintered world. A new type of A.I. was made, called Reploids: technologically bio-grown humans, designed to be faster, stronger, more efficient, and smarter, and yet were made into a disposable slave work force.

Because of this, now the line between Machine and Man was blurred, and would soon to disappear.

But when new technology arose, so did new conspiracy and new chaos.

Gangs began to cyberize themselves to make themselves more unstoppable forces to deal with. And even worse, after a time, the Reploids at time began to rebel their masters, causing violent rebellions and uprisings.

Though stable governments were forged with the use of the Corporations. They could range from simple media corporations to worldwide security firms. The only real danger was they would kill anyone that stood in their way. But the true power that supplied food and water to the people were the Factories. The factories were hooked to the Floating Cities, and applied the legislation in force; the function of the factories were to take care of the good march of the combinations and to ensure the workmen securities (the Corporations), inside the camps or the factories.

And from the Factories rose New Orders. The Anti-Cyber Police force which were in charge of policing, monitoring, and controlling rogue cybers. But also a new elite and freelance force. A force with the power to dispense both justice and punishment… for the right price. They were called Sweepers.

And now the Corporations, as well as the Floating Cities, have pushed further into their research to create a new kind of cyborg. A new lifeform by transplanting a human brain into a fully synthetic body. This would combine the strongest attributes of both human and robot.

But would this new cyborg be considered human anymore? Or would it be more machine? Where does the line start or end when we've advanced so far, that we question if we're even really human or alive anymore?

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**Cyber-Werez 2147**


	2. Nerd Upgrade pt1

**Cyber-Werez 2147**

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**Chapter 1: Nerd Gets an Upgrade; Cyberwolf on the Hunt pt.1**

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**The Year 2147**

**Location: United Cities of America (formerly United States of America)**

**Scrap-Iron City (formerly the cities of San Diego and Los Angeles)**

The two cities that were once San Diego and Los Angeles, were now a combined larger city known as Scrap Iron City. After World War III and the devastating Earthquake known as the San Andreas, aka The Big One, the former cities of California were left in ruins. For a whole century, the city had been going through slow construction and through mergers, had become one of the larger cities in the former USA, rivaling that of Neo York, formerly New Jersey, New York, and North and South Carolina. It was one of the largest and most advanced cities that were controlled by the corporations that had survived the war and gained a somewhat corporation government system that coexisted with the Factories that connected to one of the only surviving floating cities of the Space Age, the floating City, OLYMPUS.

OLYMPUS itself was a floating spiral city that hovered miles above the twin-combined city, and tethered down to it via subway-sized cables that stretched upward connecting to the spire city, and to the ruins of the old below. No one was allowed to go up there, let alone fly up to it. No one knew if it was abandoned or automated systems, but what was known was that it always dumped garbage down below, which became the Scrapyard: a huge hot spot for advanced but dumped technology. Hence the name Scrap-Iron City.

Due to the severity of the bombs going off after WWIII, humanity had to change as a result. Thankfully with the advancement of technology as it was able to be saved, as well as OLYMPUS dumping its scraps and garbage, the city of Scrap-Iron city became one of the largest locations famous for its cybernetic prosthetics and enhancements. The city's inhabitance began to augment themselves with cybernetic improvements that could improve or enhance traits like vision, strength, speed, make them be able to survive any environment. This also came to be as a form of evolutionary lifestyle as well as a way of life that was called by those who could afford it, Cyberization.

Because of this, now the line between Machine and Man was blurred, and would soon to disappear.

But when new technology arose, so did new conspiracy and new chaos.

Gangs began to cyberize themselves to make themselves more unstoppable forces to deal with. As a result, the devastation and havoc wrought upon these gangs caused violent rebellions and uprisings, as well as crimes involving hacking, kidnappings, drugs, and so on.

To counter this, the Factories created new Law Forces to take care of the problem. The Anti-Cyber Police force which were in charge of policing, monitoring, and controlling rogue cybers. But also a new elite and freelance force was developed to balance the ACP. A force with the power to dispense both justice and punishment… for the right price. They were called Sweepers.

Like Bounty Hunters, Sweepers, whether cyber or human, dispensed justice and situations like the Adventurers you would read in RPG mangas and games. Whether solo or in groups, they would get the job done, all for the dream to make it big in the new world.

And this night, a particular Sweeper's journey was finally about to take root in the City of Technology.

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**Below Scrap-Iron City**

**Sewers of the Old**

The Sewers of the Old were actually the ruins of the old cities of which Scrap-Iron was built atop. After the Big One had gone off, the earthquake had sucked down most of the ruins of the city down below. The remains were divided and smooshed into hills and a canyon caused the tectonic plates and wreckage caused by the earthquake, and as such road bridges and walkways were built atop the canyon crevices that made up the top of the ruins. It had become a virtual maze of a sewage ruin. Whatever Scrap-Iron City dumped or flushed, it ended up in this watered tunneled maze of a sewer system. And it was also the perfect place for criminals that had no territory to hide out, or to be forgotten for a while until the heat died out. Though it was also perfect to locate said scum if you were a Sweeper.

At that moment, life was moving through the ruins of the dead. A Caucasian man around in his 30s or 40s, brown hair and eyes, a look of exhaustion and panic on his face, built well despite his age, as he bolted a corner. He was dressed in ragged patched jeans, black running boots, a pale blue shirt and a jacket as well, with a utility pouch satchel, or chest phany pack others would joke on it, with a futuristic looking neon pattern on his jacket and pack, with the back of it having a kind of metallic Ogre's face on it with a broken horn. His shirt was drenched in sweat, while his shoes and pants were caked in mud and dirt; signs indicating that he had been running nonstop.

Chasing after him, a swift figure in the shadows was catching up to him. The figure must have been a ninja of sorts, as they were bolting off the ruins back and forth like a ball, chasing after them. It stopped at a downed tower, and used it as a sniper area. The figure then held up what appeared to be a green modified Renham 9 mm pistol, and it was being aimed right at the man that was running.

The figure holding the gun then spoke up, "Grenade."

Suddenly, the gun responded, as green lights on the gun lit up, and a green slip of light on the side of the barrel went up, as a small screen showed an icon of a grenade being lit. Once it made a beep sound, the figure fired, as the projectile sailed through. Time seemed to stop as the grenade shaped bullet flew right at the perp, as he turned to slowly see the shot. He freaked out, but the bullet passed him and made impact with the walled fork in the road before him. An explosion shook the area, causing dust and debris to fly away, including the perp himself. Once it died down, there was a smoldering smoky hole that had made impact, and the target was on his back, slowly trying to recover as he shuffled slowly onto his stomach. But at that time, it seemed the explosion tore at his clothing, but mostly his left arm… which revealed to be a silver and copper colored cybernetic human arm.

At that moment, the one who had fired the shot had jumped down and landed on the ground, as he held his gun out aimed at the target from the shadows. But he walked out allowing the moonlight to touch him and reveal who he was.

He was a Caucasian eighteen year old American male, short blonde hair cut in a forward buzz cut with still enough hair to cover his forehead, a slim but small muscled figure to give him the buff showings of an athlete, and green eyes. What he wore was a full black body suit that went from the neck to his feet with green military-ninja stylized armor. He wore a green chest armor piece complete with a neck collar guard, with the upper part of his back armored complete with a green backpack, and on the front still his stomach was complete with a green plated ab/stomach guard. His shoulders had green and black shoulder guard pieces while his biceps had green armor plating that didn't interfere with movement or flexibility, and his forearms had green forearm armor guards with black straps on the inside, with the upper part having a hexagon-shaped armor piece with a dark green circle in the center, and black fingerless gloves with green backhand guards and knuckles. Around his waist was a utility gun belt, with the holsters on the back, with another gun holstered on the left, with a green, silver, and black katana hilt holstered on the right side of his backpack, with a fence-styled hilt guard with a green highlight mark on it. He wore black combat-style pants for military usage with two black holster strap packs strapped on the sides of his thighs with the left having a strap attached to the left pack. His knees had black trim green knee-guards in the shape of vertical rectangles, and on his lower legs from knee to ankle were green and dark green greaves and ankle guards, with his feet in ninja-boots with the back and toes akin to shoe toes and heels, with a green tongue guard on top.

He walked towards the recovering perp, as he raised his left hand up to him. The back of his hand lit up, displaying a holographic screen and mini-screens scrolling up and down. But the main screen had a profile pic of the guy in the form of a wanted poster, as he read the following aloud, "Dale Boyd. Age 45, Caucasian, Cyborg. Crimes are: 24 counts Theft, 11 counts Assault, 6 counts Sexual Assault, and 30 counts Rape. Bounty is worth 1.5 Million credits: Dead or Alive." The screen then went away, as the young man's attention was back on Boyd, as he concluded, "The game's over, Boyd. I'm taking you in to the Factories."

Dale Boyd managed to get on his knees, as he groaned, "Since when the hell is this the way you Sweepers work?" He then managed to roll back on his butt as he glared at the young man, "Bounty or no bounty: I'm not resisting here, man!"

"Not now," the young man replied, not looking too happy at the guy. "It took me one grenade to get you to stop running away. And even before then, when I called you out, you ran away, shoving people and crying out like an idiot."

Boyd snarled at the kid as he shouted, "Hey! You can't just…!"

BANG!

Boyd stopped in his words as a gunshot was made. Though it didn't hit him, it merely struck the ground six inches from his hand. The realization that this guy was gonna kill him stopped, as he looked at the kid, and continued to reason in his favor to him, though his voice shook with fear, "You… you can't shoot me. Th-They'll revoke your license."

"Does that line work all the time," the boy asked, as he walked over. "Sorry to say this, but this is how a Sweeper works. And Dead or Alive, you're coming with me. Though I prefer alive, because I don't wanna drag your carcass with me or stuff your head in a bag."

For a moment, Dale Boyd was shocked to hear that, but his anger returned, as he snarled, "Dammit. My partner will have something to say about this."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," the young man groaned, knowing this was a common threat thugs or bounties made when they were cornered. "All bounties and scumbags of Scrap-Iron City are all the same. I'm guessing this is the part where you make threats and such, right?" The young man sighed, as he calmed, "Look, Boyd. It's either this: you let me take you in now, and all you'll go into is an Iso-Cell. Though if it were another kind of Sweeper, your severed head would go in a Meat Wagon for the Bio-Recycler. Be lucky and grateful I'm not the latter. At least for tonight."

The perpetrator finally got back onto his feet but showed his back to the young man, "Okay, alright. I get it. Take it easy. You got me, man. I give up." He then walked to the wall and placed his hands on it above his head, "You can take me in."

The young man then pulled something out from behind with his free hand. It was a pair of Ziploc lines used for handcuffs, as he walked over, while still holding his gun out at Boyd's body. But as he got closer, Boyd looked a little to the side, being careful not to peek over or be noticed by it. Once the footsteps got closer, Boyd smirked as he let out a cackled chuckle, and shouted, "DIE!"

Suddenly, the forearm and hand of his Cybernetic arm cracked open and folded the hand back to give way to an automatic gun nozzle and clip. It then did a 180 bend back and began firing at the Sweeper's direction in all possible directions. Once it stopped, Boyd turned around smiling to see his kill. But then paled, as he gasped, not seeing a body, or blood stains. He whipped around with his arm returning forward, as he looked around, "You gotta be kidding me. Where'd the body go?"

"On your left."

Boyd nearly turned to face it, until he felt a gun's muzzle on his left temple. Then suddenly, the Sweeper reappeared as if a veil was pulled off. Apparently this guy was using Stealth technology and managed to avoid being it, let alone seen. And the kid was not looking happy, as the Sweeper sighed, "No offense, but that was kinda predictable. Even for you, Boyd. You get yourself a Cyber-limb, modify it for combat, and suddenly you think you can outsmart anybody just like that, thinking they've got half a brain. Well, let me give you a lesson, Boyd. There are two types of thugs: Intelligent and Violence. Intelligent actually think things through and have backup plans. Sure they don't work out if they're up against someone with more resolve and brains, but that's how it works. Violent Thugs… well, they mostly shoot a gun at someone when they just hear sirens. Meaning, they're knuckle draggers. Guess which one you are."

Boyd retracted the gun as his arm returned to normal, as he held his hands up his head, "C'mon, man. Don't shoot me."

"I'm not going to, but you're making it difficult to take you in alive," the young man replied.

"Look, man, I'm just a small-timer. I steal what I can to make it by," Boyd explained, trying to appease this guy into letting him go. He turned to face the boy, as he nervously smiled, "You said it yourself; my bounty's 1.5 mil. Whatever the Factories' payin' out, it's not worth killing me for."

"I just said I wasn't gonna kill you," the young man said. But he noticed Boyd walking towards him slowly, as his grip on the gun never wavered, "Boyd, I'm warning you, stay put. I don't want to get rough with you as it is."

"Tell you what. Let's make a deal, alright," Boyd suggested while still moving close, "Whatever they're paying you, I'll double… no, triple. Whatdaya say?"

"I'd say I'm gonna have to decline," the young man replied. "This isn't just about the money. It's about justice. And those 30 women you raped are in need of what you…"

SHNIKT!

The young man's eyes went wide, as at least one eye was shown, and his limbs dropped, allowing him to drop the gun too. Before he knew it, Boyd's arm had folded and morphed again. This time into a pair of claw blades, which had skewered him. One blade was right in the boy's right side of his head, through the eye and skull, while the other one was through his heart. Boyd smirked, as he relaxed a little, letting his other arm down, as he cackled, "Ha! Stupid rookie sweeper! How's that for a Knuckle-dragging Thug?! You're planning for me to go to jail over some whores? Like that's gonna happen! If anything, they loved every second of it." He then attempted to pull the blades out, but they didn't budge a bit. Boyd attempted to use both arms and use is foot for extra leverage by pushing on his chest. Finally, he got fed up as both feet were down, as he shouted, "What the hell?! Why aren't these budging?!"

"You're still so predictable," the young man replied, as he looked to Boyd with his still-usable eye, and looked unfazed at what had happened.

Boyd freaked out, as he tried to make sense, while trying to pull away to no avail, "Wh-What? What the…?!"

Suddenly, before Boyd who freaked out more, the young man's body began to melt and shuffle, like a giant slime. Only this slime turned silver, dark gray, and bright green as it shifted to the left, while still holding on to Boyd's arm. Finally, the blob shifted back into the young man's form, only something was completely different. Instead of a blonde and flesh-skinned 18-year-old, there was still an 18-year-old, but everything was now different. In place of his blonde hair was bright green hair with a gray streak in the sides and back, his face was now gray metal with two rectangle green circuitry patterns on his cheeks, his ears were dark gray shapes while his neck was gray as well, but had two green jugulars with a green Adams apple on his neck. His eyebrows were dark gray, and his eyes were now black with bright green irises, and his fingers were dark gray showing from his gloves.

Boyd freaked out, as he nearly screamed, "What are you? What kind of monster are you?!"

The young man's cool demeanor, turned into an annoyed frown, as he grumbled, "Now that's just plain rude, Dale Boyd. The name's Drew Nanmitz, I'm a Sweeper for the Factory in Sector 13 of the Maverick Sweepers Guild. And I'm a Full-Body Cyborg. And that's all you need to know."

Drew's grip on the forearm of Dale's Cyber-Arm was tightening up, as the straining sound of metal was heard. Dale Boyd grunted and groaned, clutching at the arm as he tried to wrench free from Drew's grasp, as he groaned out, "S-Stop it!"

"I did say we'd do this the easy way or hard way, Boyd," Drew replied in logic, as he looked angry and annoyed at the bounty, "But since you keep resisting arrest… I'll still take you in alive. Though when I'm done, you'll wish you were just a head in a bag."

The forearm was then crushed with ease, as Boyd shouted in pain, but not before Drew swung him around 270, right into a wall, with a look of shock and pain in Boyd's face. The impact didn't kill him, but boy, the guy looked like he was through the ringer from that one swing.

As Drew saw the body fall to the ground unconscious, his annoyance melted into pure exhaustion as he slouched over his shoulder, groaning, "Why the hell do I keep getting these idiots?"

_Now I know what you're thinking: what does this have to do with me? Yeah, the silver and green guy is me, Drew Nanmitz. But before all this, I used to go by Andrew Kognitz, and believe it or not, I was 100% organic. So why am I a full-bodied cyborg with a malleable polymorphic frame and going by Nanmitz? Well, it all started about 2 years ago… before I went from Flesh to Steel…._

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**2 Years Ago**

**District 09 – San Jose**

San Jose was one of the four major cities that made up California, next to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego. It was known as the Economic, Cultural and Political center of Silicon Valley, and one of the largest cities in Nothern California. After WWIII, it still remained that way, though it was more of a slum city habituating slums and homeless people; namely Lower-Class citizens. The ruins made up hotel/apartment Blocks, housing anything you'd need: shops, stores, restaurants, and so on. Even home/living quarters for singles, families, or groups. If you could afford it. If you couldn't afford it, you'd live in the scrapped ruins. Those who lived near Santa Clara Valley on the southern shore of San Francisco Bay, lived High-class citizens; those who could afford to live the high life. Namely those that had their own private housings. Those who could live like that either worked for the Companies that ran California, or basically founded/owned those companies.

Like San Angeles, San Jose also promoted Cybernetic lifestyle and style-of-life. It was booming with the High-Tech Company industry, even before the war. Hench why it was nicknamed the Silicon Valley City. Even now, when it started in the 1990s, San Jose and the rest of the Silicon Valley City had become the global center for the high-tech and internet industries, making it California's fastest-growing Cybernetics and Technology central.

And even though it was still high tech, schools were still in business. As such, one school in particular where this story happened.

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**Mission San Jose Highschool**

The place was a rather nice and tidy as well as modern high school. Surrounding it and on the roof edges were plant life, though it was either artificial, since plant life was scarce and could only be found in greenhouses in some parts of the cities like O2 factories for terraforming or for vegetable produce. Though there was some graffiti in some areas, though it was not seen by others, so it was mostly in shadow areas that weren't seen. The high school known as Mission San Jose or MSJ was a public co-educational 4-year school founded in the mid 1900s. Its many competitions were Quiz Bowl-Style tournaments, debates, Chess with A.I.s you could program or challenge from others. But the biggest selection was the Athletics, but mostly with the sport Motor Derby. A cybernetic version of Roller Derby, but more extreme and dangerous.

As the late bell rang out, teenagers of all shapes, races, and sizes were entering the school. Though amazingly, most had cybernetic implants or prosthesis; some human, few humanoid or otherwise, meaning a few had spider-legs, hind-legs, or caterpillar treks for mobility, or just had a quad lifter for a lower bottom of their body. But there were a few that had no cybernetics and were all naturally organic.

Some had cybernetics that were barely noticeable. Such as one young lady making her way to the lockers. She was a young woman of American/Asian mix, sixteen years old, fair skin, medium-length brown hair styled into a rough bob-cut and light blue/grey eyes, and a physique that was fairly average, with a moderately sized bust and waistline, and slender legs. She did have a cyber implant on the basis of her back neck which consisted of four jack ports, and another one behind her right ear. She was dressed with a black vest with a white long-sleeved button-up shirt, a black mini-skirt with black thigh high elegant tights, brown buckled boots and a silver crucifix around her neck that rested atop her chest. Her name was Maria Takashi.

_That's Maria Takashi. An innocent soul among a place that's part of the City of Lost Angels and Cybers. An Idol among the school, even though she's not really an idol. She's any guys' dream of true love. And to be fair.. I did have a moderate crush on her._

Walking to her sides were two gentlemen who were acquaintances of hers, as she seemed to smile when they popped up as they were heading for their home room.

The first gentleman was a Caucasian sixteen-year-old good-looking guy; good looks, althetic body, smarts, and an overall good personality due to the smile on his face when he greeted Maria. He had silky brown hair and gentle blue eyes, with a toned and slender body all about 180 centimeters. Though he did have cybernetic augmentation, such as on his face with two crescent moon-like markings on his cheeks in silver, and the same neck jack ports on the back of his neck. He was dressed in blue jeans, a white turtleneck shirt, black vest and had a bulky armband-like watch on his left forearm. His name was Kalvin Redick, the class rep and all around gentleman; a true term to the guy that described him best would be 'Hero Material'.

_This guy is Kalvin Redick; the class rep and to RPG nerds like me, he's considered the Hero of the school. Though he's more annoying than he looks, but his word usually is the last one. He's a kind and fair guy who's overflowing with sense of justice. However, since he never thinks he's wrong, he's got a bad habit of interpreting adverse situations to his own convenience._

The second guy was around seventeen, Caucasian, had long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail held by an orange and gray band, strong thin build, and bright orange eyes; he was quite handsome with a face to match. He had two bands on the sides of his jaw, the same jack ports in the back of his neck, and his forearms had strange circuitry patterns of silver etched, with his knuckles orange and his fingers black. He was wearing black pants and a black skin-tight shirt that looked almost like chainmail, with an orange and white trimmed jacket, with had a black hood, and wore reddish orange and black stylized futuristic sneakers. His name was Emile Fairclough, and he was considered the pretty boy of the school, as well as Kalvin's right-hand man.

_This fellow is Emile Fairclough, the friendliest guy you'd know. But beneath that, he's a bit of a player who goes after anything with a pair of legs, boobs, and pretty faces. He's got high levels of self-delusion and willful ignorance, if not plain idiocy. And the worst part is, he only hears what he wanted to hear and ignored whatever might upset him. So when a guy like me tries to say he's wrong, he just up and ignores it until it comes back to bite someone in the butt._

A fat kid stuffing down jelly donuts behind them with a few implants around his neck was present as they entered the classroom.

_I wish I could say this was me, but no._

Clanking was heard from behind them all, as the late bell rung out, just as the clanking got to the door in time. There, leaning on the door frame was a sixteen-year-old Caucasian male with shaggy blonde hair, green eyes hidden behind glasses, and a scrawny frame to boot with fair skin. He was dressed in blue jeans, a white button-up t-shirt with a rust brown long-sleeved shirt and brown shoes made it in. though he had one odd feature that wasn't the fact that he was 100 organic: he had a gray exo-skeleton strapped to his body from neck to heels with a battery power pack on his upper back. This was Drew Kognitz, one of the few people that didn't have cybernetic implants.

_Yep. That scrawny toothpick is me. Drew Kognitz. I'm one of the few humans that doesn't have cybernetic implants or prosthesis done to me. Mostly because I couldn't afford that much to begin with, as cybernetics can literally cost you an arm and a leg; despite the fact that you needed that replaced anyway. Why do I need cybernetics? It's mostly because of my body; it's sick with some kind of bone/muscle deficiency that causes my bones to be weakened and brittle. That's why I need the exo-skeleton to move around at be at average strength. It's basically a crutch to help me, and it's one of the reasons I don't have any friends._

Drew managed to make his way to his desk and avoid everyone else. For him, he dreaded starting school, not just because some students who have cybernetics get cocky and arrogant, using it to make themselves feel big by bullying the little guy. As Drew sat down, he was greeted by the one reason he dreaded school.

It was Maria, as she pulled a seat in front of Drew's desk, and greeted the boy, almost as if they were friends, with a warm caring smile on her face, "Good morning, Drew. How was your weekend? Did you work too long? You seem a bit tired."

However, Drew calmly looked at her, blankly and unflinching in surprise. Although he was stone silent and quiet, inside… he was freaking out, as inside his head, a chibi-version of himself was screaming around, 'MARIA'S TALKING TO ME! WHAT SHOULD I SAY?! I CAN'T THINK! WHY DOES SHE DO THIS EVERY WEEK?! CRAP-BISCUITS!'

_Yeah, that was part of the reason I don't have friends; I don't know how to interact with others. I'm basically shy around everyone or just don't have any confidence with dealing with people. I'm lucky that I have a part-time job. It also doesn't help that I'm hopeless when it comes to girls. But this girl, Maria Takashi… for some reason, she genuinely talks to me like we're friends. Which is odd, since we don't have out with one another. But that's also the other problem. You see…_

Even though Drew's outside appearance was calm, innerly, he stopped freaking out and froze, as he heard voices all around him. Behind Maria and her dazzling smile, the other students glared daggers at him. Drew didn't have to pretend what they were thinking as their faces said it all. Glares and sneers aimed right at him just for being talked to by Maria so casually. This ended up having attract a lot of animosity towards the poor boy. Some of the boys would look at him, and he'd swear it was reading like, 'Why the hell is this nerd favored by Takashi, the Goddess of San Jose High?' or from the girls, it would feel like, 'You're just trouble to Maria, so bad off.'. It was almost as if Drew could hear with they were thinking, even without jackports on the back of his neck, which were standard cybernetic augments. This was another reason why he hated going to public schools.

But Drew ignored the glares and hate-gazes directed at him, as he looked to the girl in front of him, and had to wonder to himself: why did she like hanging around him? What was so special about him that she would want to hang around him? He wasn't an athlete, he was strong, and he didn't even have any cybernetic implants or prosthesis at all. What nobody knew about him was that at home, his specialty was computers, cybernetic physiology study, and programming. Why would someone like her, who was considered a goddess among the school, associate herself with a guy like him?

Drew nodded, and finally managed to speak to her, albeit broken and droned like a robot, "The weekend was… good. Thank you.. Miss Takashi… for asking."

Maria smiled, as she giggled, "That's the first time you ever said anything to me."

'Well, it's mostly because I've been practicing with someone's help while at home,' Drew thought to himself, not wanting to tell the others about his only friend. But his thoughts wondered on her behavior towards him, 'Why is she so happy with me returning her greeting? It's kind of odd she only does this with me and no others. I mean, sure there's Kalvin…'

"Why do you bother with him, Maria?"

The blonde spectacled boy sighed and slouched, 'Speak of the Devil.'

Sure enough, the one who spoke up and got both their attention, was Kalvin Redick. Accompanying him was Emile Fairclough, along with a new face. He was a rather handsome seventeen-year-old dark-haired man, slim but well-built frame, cut but long black hair reaching his jawline, cold blue eyes, and on his face two slash circuitry patterns on his face. He was wearing a black shirt with white pants and black shoes, but his noticeable feature was a cyberized left arm in black and white coloring. He was Ren Itsuki, the kendo club champion… and Maria's bodyguard.

Ren looked to Drew, non-threatening but rather sympathetic, as he berated politely, "Still staying up late? You're cutting it close to the bell."

Emile, looking smug, as he shrugged, speaking to Maria, "Forget about him. There's no use to talking to such a useless weirdo." He then turned up his nose at Drew, as he finished, "He can't even afford any cyber-upgrades."

Drew wanted to counter that, but nothing came out. It wasn't because he was shy, it was because he believed that whatever he said would be contradicted as something rude or obnoxious. No matter what he would say, they would just brush it off like it didn't matter.

Even Kalvin didn't make it easy for him, as he walked up and looked down at Drew, as he lectured, "Kognitz. When are you going to stop fawning over Maria? She can't give you attention forever."

The poor boy merely grimaced, as he innerly groaned, 'Ugh, it's the opposite. I actually want her to leave me alone…'

"But I talk to Andrew because I want to," Maria innocently replied.

Everyone was surprised to hear that, but Drew just sighed, as it happened again. Everyone's eyes were darting him with envy and rage, and all the poor boy could do was suck up the hatred they were spewing at him. Though he did tell himself innerly, 'I got this. Two years. Just two more years, and then I won't have to be this uncomfortable.'

* * *

**Later**

**After Class**

The teen, whom nobody noticed in the crowded hallway, Drew, was practically unnoticed to all. Which was okay for him, since he wasn't all that accustomed with people. He probably just didn't connect with anybody there. The only ones he ever connected to were his parents. Sadly, they had passed away two years ago. It was hard for him, but he managed as best he could. The only downside was that there was no one he could talk to. Nobody he was comfortable around.

He walked down the hallway, gliding or pushing himself through the crowded hallway. Even when he walked down the hallway, no one seemed to notice as they went to their lockers, to the bathroom to freshen up, or any of that stuff. However, there were kids that looked at him with much disgust or looks that said 'You Don't Belong Here'. But Drew didn't care; in fact, he could care less about what they thought of him. He didn't need everybody to love him, though it would have helped to have at least one friend on the outside world. But he knew that right after school and work, he'd be seeing his best friend afterwards, and that game him some real solace.

He walked over to his locker, but noticed a teen couple was making out over it. He sighed, knowing full well it was gonna be one of those days, but reminded himself that he had two years for graduation. As they turned a little, he walked over, and typed in his combination on the keypad lock that was built into the door like all the other lockers there, and attempted to open it. Unfortunately, the couple was proving it difficult for him, as they rolled back and closed the locker door. Though, he managed to get his books out alright, and stepped back, as the making out couple rolled over it closing it.

However, the girl stopped, as she looked at Kognitz, disgusted, as she shot out, "Do you mind?"

He shook his head, and walked away, as he got what he needed. He put them in his book bag. But just when he was about to leave, something fell out of his book stack he retrieved. He blinked, as he picked it up from the floor. Apparently, it was a letter, and from the patterns of hearts drawn on it… it was a love letter.

Drew blinked, as he asked himself, "Is this the fabled love letter?"

Truth be told for Drew, he never got one of those. Not ever. Not even on Valentine's Day or a form of pity Valentine. Heck, he never even got any chocolate, pity chocolate, or even leftover chocolate. He shook his head, as he opened the letter, and it read:

_Drew Kognitz,_

_During the next period, please come to the back of the gym. I have something to tell you._

_Maria Takashi_

The poor boy's mind was flooding with shock, as he went wide eyed, and screamed in his head, 'WHAAAAAAAAA...?!'

* * *

**Later On**

**Next Period**

**Back of the Gym**

Despite next period, Drew showed up anyway. And even though it was a love letter, Drew was even more confused about Takashi now. Why did she have strong admirational feelings for him to begin with? The blonde looked down at the letter in his hands as he pondered to himself on this situation, 'It's just a letter, nothing more. I don't feel anything to her, so I'll just turn her down softly.' He then thought again as he looked up at the cloudy skies, 'I mean I do have a slight crush on her but that's about it. In honesty, she's a daughter for one of the corporations, so she's one of those privileged people who don't live in the slums. I don't really know why she sent the letter at all.' He shook his head as he looked forward in front of him, 'Nope, I'm just gonna turn her down flat; I'll even tell her to leave me alone from now on…' and then sweatdropped, 'If I don't freeze up like I always do.'

He blinked, as he looked at his watch, and realized the time, "It's been almost two hours, the last period's over and the next period's halfway over. Where is she?"

"I'm guessing you're waiting for Takashi then, eh?"

The blonde boy in the exo-skeleton blinked, as he looked upward at the windows, to see Emile and a few girls with him. Emile was smirking as he spoke up cocky, "You already missed last period. And now you're skipping the next period before school's up? Man, for a nerdy guy, it's strange for you to play hookie."

Drew turned around and looked upward, confused on this, as he asked, or tried to, "Huh?"

"Looks like I won the bet; gonna have my buds cash in on this," Emile chuckled, and then looked down at the confused Drew. "What? Did you really think Maria would actually show up for a cowardly loser like you?"

On the outside, Drew's calm demeanor showed no violent shock, as he looked a this with wide eyes and an open mouth in shock, but inside… he was screaming, 'WHAT?! I'VE BEEN TRICKED?!'

Emile chuckled, as did his 'harem', "I only wrote down to come behind the gym. It never said she'd meet you there. How could Maria like you at all?" And then they all just walked away, leaving Drew to feel like an idiot.

Drew felt it couldn't get any worse than this. Unfortunately, it did, as turning the corner, a middle-aged Caucasian man with combed graying brown hair, glasses hiding his eyes, wearing a teacher's suit and a permanent frown on walking nearby. Once he saw Drew, he called out, "Mr. Kognitz!" Drew jumped, as he looked to the man.

Drew freaked out as he knew who this was, "Mr. Tanaka!" he was the last period's teacher. And he was supposed to have taken a test with his class.

The teacher adjusted his glasses, hiding his eyes with a light glare, as he scolded, "You were supposed to take a test in my class. You dared to skip my class and the test that went with it? I will not allow this!" he adjusted his glasses to showcase a gray brown eye colored glare at him, as he assigned, "Silence! Staring this weekend… DETENTION FOR A MONTH!"

The form that Drew was in was a sight like his life had been sucked right out of him. He was ghostly pale with no pigment with him at all. His eyes were cold and lifeless with a purple aura hanging above him. And flying out of his mouth… was his soul, as both echoed in their heads, 'Why, World? Why…?'

* * *

**Next Chapter: Nerd Gets an Upgrade; Cyberwolf on the Hunt pt.2**


	3. Nerd Upgrade pt2

**Cyber-Werez 2147**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Nerd Gets an Upgrade; Cyberwolf on the Hunt pt.2**

* * *

**After School**

**CyberDice Assembly Factory**

Once drew left the high school, after he got written up for detention to last a whole year, he managed to catch the bus to one of the Assembly Factories owned by the corporation known as CyberDice. CyberDice was one of the largest corporations still left standing. In fact, it was the main supplier for cybernetic augmentations and prosthesis in American. Possibly the world. And it was here that Drew made his money to live, not to spend. Though in an ironic kind of way, his parents worked here as well.

His parents worked on an assembly line, building robots as well as cybernetic prosthetics, but his mom's primary job was a Cyber-Physician, a local doctor who could implant and repair cybernetics. The young boy learned a lot from them, and it did help that he was gifted in that genius sense. As such, he worked on computers he scrounged or bartered for to build his own computer lab, working on A.I.s, as well as designing implants and prosthetic limbs for himself one day.

However, in a fateful turn of events, during an industrial accident at the factory they worked at, they were trapped in a kiln using radioactive sources, and were exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. After being rescued, it was informed they only had five days left to live before they succumbed to the poisoning. Desperate for a cure, his parents sought out a human smuggler named Web-Spider to get them to the Floating City, Olympus, and straight to Med-Bays: technologically advanced body pods that could cure all known diseases, reverse the aging process, and regenerate missing or damaged body parts. Unfortunately, the ship they were on was destroyed by a Sleeper Agent named Kruger, a sociopathic Freelancer or Sweeper: a bounty hunter that worked for the Factories: the places that supplied food, water, and other resources to the people below, though in poor condition.

Drew didn't have any grudges or vengeful thoughts on it; he knew his parents were trying to survive for his sake, and possibly bring back the technology. Drew made his way to the clock-in, all while one of the employees smirked at him, in a taunting kind of way.

He was a young man of seventeen, Caucasian, with long brown hair to his shoulders in a shaggy look to it, brown eyes, and had an arrogant expression on his face. He was lean built with a cybernetic implant on his neck, jackports, and was dressed in a sleeveless black shirt, baggy blue pants with black belts around his waist, and black boot shoes. His other implants had two silver forearms and hands with black joints on the elbows, wrists, and fingers. He was putting on a standard white jump suit with a black guard front used for welding. His name was Davis Hawkins, a delinquent at Drew's school… and one of Drew's coworkers plus tormentor.

And it was made evident when Drew got his suit on, Davis got up and put him in a nasty headlock, as he taunted, "Heard you got called for a love confession only for it to get turned into a detention session. For the whole semester, you loser."

Drew struggled to breathe, as he gagged, "Nice that the word gets around."

"You know you're a loser, right," Davis smugly poked at him. "I mean most kids that are lucky can get even dirt cheap augmentations, but you don't have crap squat!"

"Is there a problem?"

Davis stopped applying pressure as he and Davis turned to see the one who spoke up. He was a brown-haired young man, Caucasian, their age and Davis's build, and wearing the same uniform, with blue eyes. Though he had a strange looking glowing ring the size of a fingernail on his right temple.

Drew weakly waved at him, "Hey, Simon. How are you?"

Davis sneered as he scoffed at the guy, "Stupid Canner. Don't robots like you have better things to do? Get lost."

"I do. But I'm also here to report that if you are late for your scheduled shift, even if you're clocked in, I'll have to report you both to the supervisor and that will cause a doc in your pay," Simon implied.

After hearing that, Davis shoved Drew aside, and walked away, giving Simon a glare, as he grumbled, "Stupid robot." And walked out of there as the door closed behind him.

Drew slowly got back to his feet, as he coughed, clearing his throat, but looked to Simon, as he weakly smiled, "Thank you, Simon."

Simon simply turned to him, as he smiled, "One is glad to be of service."

Drew nodded, and walked out as he entered the work area. It was a streaming maze of conveyer belts and assembly lines. Some of the lines had robotic arms constructing some larger components while humans worked on the smaller kind. Humans like Drew, as he walked over to a station and started working on small circular servos, specifically designed for cyber joints for limbs. During most of the time, a few broken or deformed servos crossed on the line. One payoff of this was that Drew could take the broken servos, as he casually took those and scooped them into his bag. It was a personal thing with them; he just needed the servos for study, no matter how broken or unusable they were.

During the shift, he overheard everyone talking about him behind his back. They made little to no effort to conceal their voices, as Drew's hearing was as sharp as ever.

"Lookit. It's the fleshbag."

"I heard he's got some physical disability or a weak skeleton or something. They say he's got another four years before he croaks."

"Why doesn't he get cyber augmentation? It could save his life."

"He's dirt poor. Can't even afford spine neck or palm jacks."

"What a loser."

"Nobody's gonna miss him."

It was true, Drew was poor despite working this kind of job. He couldn't afford cyber-modification and augmentation. He was born with a rare bone marrow deficiency, which caused his bones to be brittle. Any single drop or fall could break his bones pretty easily. That's why he had to wear the exo-skeleton around him. But it was even worse. It turned out the deficiency was wreaking havoc on his body, making him weaker. Pretty soon his body would give out and he'd die; they say the doctors gave him about another four years to live. But Drew didn't care… because he had a plan.

"Kognitz! Get over here," his boss shouted.

Drew nearly jumped out of his shoes, as he looked at the front way to where the offices were. There, he saw his boss, who was in a work suit much like he was, but accompanying him were three Sweepers. But the one that stood out was a Caucasian fellow who was around in his forties, but physically fit, with a military buzz cut of dark and light gray hair, and his left eye was brown. Though he had cybernetics, such as his left eye, which was black with a red iris. His entire left arm was silver and cybernetic, with only a few armor plating on his outer forearm and his shoulder, while the rest were silver tubes and muscles. He was dressed in a military green and brown attire, considering black combat boots, green combat pants, a brown military holster belt with thigh holsters, and green and black kneecaps. He wore black fingerless gloves with gray armor plating on the back, while his right arm had a brown strap on the forearm, and his right shoulder had a green and brown shoulder guard. His chest had a gun and ammo holster vest, with a modified rifle on his back, and two guns in the holster.

But the one in the middle at the front was Maria, who seemed to be holding a rifle. The boss called out, "I need you to look at this! That's an order!"

Drew put his stuff down, as he walked downward using the elevator, as he wobbled over. However, as he was walking towards the area, being less happy about it, he was being teased from behind, even as one worker half-smirked, rather unkindly, as he taunted, "Go for it, Hero."

Even one of them kicked him from behind, as he stumbled a bit, but regained his stance.

Maria blinked at this, wondering why they called him hero, much less treated him as such. He managed to get over to them, as his boss looked to Miss Maria, as he proudly stated, "I said I'd get someone to help fix it, and Mr. Kognitz is an expert in this kind of stuff."

Maria looked to him, and smiled, unaware of how miserable Drew was, as she greeted him, as he graciously took the rifle, "There's something wrong with the rifle. It's having a hard time reloading properly."

"Okay then," Drew replied, not making eye contact at all, as he focused solely on the weapon in front of him.

"So, Drew…" Maria replied, smiling that she was talking to him. "Is it true? You want to be a hero?" However, he didn't respond to her, as he was examining the rifle. But even so, Maria persisted, as she continued to speak out, "Um, I heard you got into detention from skipping class today. That's not like you at all, Drew." And yet he still continued to ignore her over the work, but she still tried, "You know, this is the first time we've seen each other out of class. I didn't know you worked at one of my family's factories." Still no response, and even though Maria was calmly smiling and trying polite conversation, inside, she was freaking out in a panic, 'Aaaaah! He's not talking! What am I doing wrong? Does he not like me? I don't understand! I just want to talk to him! Why is he ignoring me like this?'

The guards, minus the big fellah, were getting pissed off at this kid who was still working. Even though Drew was calm and focused on his work, innerly, his mind was screaming, 'WHY IS SHE HERE!? NO, NO! WHY IS SHE TALKING TO ME?! WHAT DID I DO?!'

"Hey!" his boss shouted, as he stomped over, looking at Drew pissed, "This girl is the daughter of the man that runs this factory! Answer her!"

Realizing the situation, Maria tried to diffuse it, "Please, that's not…"

"Got it," Drew replied, as he graciously handed her the rifle, surprising everyone, as he explained, "The cartridge button's spring is worn and busted. You're gonna have to replace it with a new one. My advice is to have the cartridge chamber and handle replaced. I'm not sure they make replacement parts for just the small stuff anymore."

Maria blinked in surprise at not just the advice, but the fact that Drew had spoken that much when he was so quiet. Feeling that this was the right time to talk, she smiled, "Thank you. Maybe perhaps on your break, we could…"

"I should head back to my post now, sir," Drew replied, as he looked to his boss, who had his normal temperament back, as he asked, "Is there anything else?"

"Nah, you're good. Get back to work," he replied. And with that, Drew walked back to his post, while a disappointed Maria sighed.

However, bashing and hitting noises caught Drew's attention as he looked over to the left. There, he saw Davis and a few others… beating up Simon. He looked in shock, as he overheard them.

"Stupid Canner!"

"Trash it!"

"Damn thing's gone deviant on us!"

Even though Simon was stronger and capable of fighting back, he wasn't. Due to one of the three laws of Robotics, a Robot has the Right to Defend itself, he was able to defend himself. But the first Law stated that A Robot Cannot Harm/Kill a Human Being, caused a problem. Even though Robots could defend themselves, it would only be in effect if it didn't conflict with the 1st Law. Thus, Simon was on his knees, taking damage without even fighting back.

This was too much for Drew, as he walked over, despite wanting to run, but his exo-frame not allowing too much strain. But he was able to shout, "STOP IT!"

The three stopped as they looked to Drew who stopped in front of them, as he demanded, "Stop it right now! Simon's not doing anything; he's not even fighting back!"

"Shut it, fleshbag," Davis sneered, as he pointed at him and then Simon, "This thing's gone deviant! We're scrapping him!"

"And how is he being a deviant," Drew interrogated.

"He wouldn't follow an order," Davis shot out, and then glared at Simon, "He said it would deviate from his other orders."

"That's not being a deviant, that's him saying that your order isn't a mission priority," Drew defended. "You also know that a deviant would attack a human or that the light circle on his cranium would pulsate red."

The three stopped their assault on this, wanting to beat him up. But then someone spoke up, "You seem quite certain."

Striding in, being guarded by two black and gold humanoid armor robots was the CEO of the factory, as well as Maria's father. He was a well-dressed man in a Japanese-style business suit with a cranial slot upgrade cybernetic, brown eyes in slit eyes, black graying hair slicked back, and had a presence about him that made him believe what he said was true and that he was untouchable. His name was Tanaka Takashi, the head of the assembly factory and Maria's mother.

"It must feel so easy to be self-righteous when you stand behind Sweepers," he believed.

Drew shook his head, "No, it's not that! Simon's one of the better workers around here. I find it hard to believe he'd go deviant like that."

Simon attempted to get back onto his feet, until one of the goons saw this, as he shouted, "HEY, CANNER!" Simon stopped as he looked to the goons who spoke up. And in an instant, the guy swung a bat-sized wrench at his head, smashing him up pretty good. His eyes rolled back into his skull, as Simon fell to the floor, the ring on his fractured skull going black.

Drew looked at this horrified, even as everyone didn't pay attention. Not taking it anymore, he shouted, "What is wrong with you people?! He wasn't a Deviant! It was just an excuse for you people to break him! If you don't like robots, then why bother making them at all?!"

THWAK!

In an instant and without him knowing, Drew fell to the ground, curled up, as Davis, who was holding a wrench, sneered, "Shut up, Robot Lover!"

And then he and his goon friends began beating him up mercilessly. The workers watched this but went back to their work, ignoring this. The Sweepers stood by as they were not ordered to do anything at this point. Maria, looking at this horrified, attempted to rush over, but her father stopped her by using his hand to block her path. She looked at him dejected, as she pleaded, "Father, please. You have to stop this cruelty."

"In a moment, Maria, my daughter," Mr. Takashi looked unfazed as he pointed out, "A lesson must be learned from this."

Suddenly, one of the Sweepers rushed out. It was the silver-haired guy in the military getup, as he ran over to the group. The first thing he did was sweep kick a good with two robotic arms too big for him, and punched his lights out when he fell back first. He then suddenly grabbed one of the pipes that a spider-legged goon and threw him aside. And just when Davis was about to retaliate, he smashed the pipe on the guy's kneecaps, causing him to double down in pain, and then punched him.

Before anything, the two robot guards aimed their guns at him, as Mr. Takashi, his calm demeanor swept over with anger, called out, "By what right?"

The Soldier Sweeper looked to Mr. Takashi, unfazed and still hard-faced, as he replied, "You paid me to protect your daughter: I do that. You also pay me to keep the peace in this factory for ya." He then looked to Drew, who was battered and bleeding, even coughing up blood, and then looked back at Mr. Takashi, as he replied, "This ain't it."

"He has a reputation of interfering with Deviant disposal," Mr. Takashi argued.

"From what I saw, the robot wasn't a deviant," The Sweeper replied. "He was just doing his work, and didn't wanna waste time with any dumb orders from these schmucks you waste money on."

That last comment slowly made Mr. Takashi angry, as Drew wobbled back onto his feet, while trying to steady himself after getting beaten up so easily. "Have them both escorted out of here," Mr. Takashi ordered, as two of the Sweepers escorted the Sweeper and Drew out.

"Father," Maria said dejected, not liking how her father handled this.

But her father ignored it, as he simply held his composure, and replied, "Maria. Maintaining order here is a must-priority of any Sweeper I hire here." And then walked back to his office with his two droid bodyguards.

She couldn't believe the words that left his mouth, as she looked at a battered and bleeding Drew being led out, as well as the droid's carcass being taken for recycling. She then asked herself, "You call this… Order?"

* * *

**Outside**

Coming out of the back entrance to where employees came out of, the Sweeper and a wobbling Drew were making their way outside. Once they were close enough, Drew parted ways from him, but stopped in his tracks. The Sweeper took notice of it, and asked, "Somethin' wrong, kid?"

Drew, despite his inexperience with people, managed to speak out, "Aside from my parents, you're the only one that ever stood up for me." He then turned to him, and nodded, "Thank you, sir. And I'm sorry you lost a job."

"It's not 'Sir', kid. It's Hank Ducard," he replied, and then looked back at the factory. "Besides, my brother-in-law works on robots too, as well as Cybers. So it felt like you did the one thing I couldn't do: stick up for that robot you called Simon." He then sighed, as he looked back in front, ignoring the occupants coming out during quitting time, "And this job was small fry. Didn't pay much anyway."

Drew let that sink in, and weakly smiled, as he replied, "Drew Kognitz."

The sweeper blinked, "Huh?"

"Drew Kognitz. It's not Kid," and then began to walk off again, as Ducard went the other direction.

But he stopped to see Davis and his goons, still looking banged up, and right at Drew, was glaring at him. Especially Davis, as he had that arrogant look on his face, and made a pistol gesture at him, as he mouthed to him, 'You're next.' But Drew walked home, hoping to put it behind him.

* * *

**Later that Day**

**Slum Districts**

The Slums was a rundown version of the lower neighborhoods during the big Earthquake. It was what was left of business buildings and hotels that managed to stay standing, but modified for living as slum-made blocks. It was also kind of a danger zone due to its instability, but it was the reason why the rent was so low. It also didn't help it was built and maintained over cracks that led to the lower level sewer drains. This meant that they were living on suspension bridges over the water. Meaning if someone were to fall in, they would be washed out with nothing to hold on to. But it was the only affordable place that Drew could live in.

He managed to walk home, which was a 3-story business building that had been run down, but maintained for someone to live in.

* * *

**Inside**

He opened the roll-in door, as he then locked it up using a sub-club to hold it in place, and then walked through. The main lobby had been converted into a living room, while the upstairs were living quarters. But he walked into the office area, as there was a wheelchair station. He walked over to a ceiling swing hardness as he got next to it. His exo-skeleton powered down and released him, allowing him to fall gently into the swing. Once he was safe, he carefully pushed himself to the wheelchair; the swing was attached to a sliding wheel setup that wheeled him to the chair. He gently sat down on it, as he used a stick control on the right side to move himself to the next room.

The room looked like a cybernetic-med lab, as it had been set up as such. One table had a chemical system with beakers and such. Another side of the room had a super-computer setup, with a console, screens taken from scrapyards, as well as supercomputer databases, along with a box full of strange glass containers no bigger than golf balls. Next to it was a strange looking device that looked like an egg display tong of sorts with a projector on top. And in the middle wall part was a strange glass reactor-shamed barrel full of gray liquid stuff, as well as small vials being made for examination and experimentation.

Drew wheeled over to the computer part, as he turned on the screen. Once he did though, top projectors turned to his direction, and something was being projected next to him.

Once it fully formed, Drew wheeled to face it, smiling, as he saw what was forming. It was a girl of Caucasian design, appearing to be his age, slender frame and physically beautiful, with long purple hair going down to her knees in points, and purple eyes. She had a glamorous figure; thin waist, long legs, tight butt, and C cup chest. Her face showed a girl-next-door beauty as well as a new girl in class beauty and innocence all on her own. Her skin, however, was light purple, but with her upper calves outer thighs, lower back, sides of her ribs, and lines going up her breasts, including her forearms and hands, as well as the outer parts of her shoulders dark purple. She also had a single line in her inner thigh, as well as her belly button colored purple, with her collar bone having an upside-down triangle in dark purple too.

She suddenly moved as she leaned in towards Drew, as she smiled brightly, honestly happy to have him around, "Hello, Drew. How are you today?" But then she blinked, as she stood up, with her hand on her hip, and her other on her chin, as she thought aloud, "Wait. You're early today. Usually, you're around home at 9 PM after work. Did a breakout of the Corona Virus come back?"

Drew smiled, seeing her comfort and her concern, as he replied, "Hey, LSN-1984. And no… I got fired today."

LSN-1984 smiled, as she got an answer, as she replied, "Oh, I see. That's good to…" But then paled, as she ran up to him, her hair going all wild, as she freaked out, "AAAAh! FIRED?! But why? You're such a diligent worker! And you're just as good as any cyborg! Why would they fire you?" But then she went wide eye, as her hair flared up like crazier, "AAAAH! You look hurt! What happened?!"

He sighed, as he explained, "They scraped Simon and I tried to stop them. Guess they didn't like the interference from me. Again. And I got beat up when I tried to complain about it. Mostly by Davis again."

After hearing that, LSN's hair relaxed as it let down, as she smiled at Drew, "Oh Drew…" She walked behind him and hugged him from behind, resting her cheek to his, as she warmly replied, "Nobody sees it, but you have a big heart. More than what others let on."

Those words from her lifted much weight off of him, as he smiled, 'placing' his hand atop hers, "Thanks, LSN. I'm glad you're able to help support me. Even if it's all programming."

LSN pouted, "Hey. That's not fair. It may have started out like that, but you made it for me to learn." She then smiled warmly, "And I'll always be grateful for that."

Drew smiled at the sincerity from her. It wasn't fake or artificially made like others would. This was generally learned from, like any living person would.

_Not to brag or anything, but I may suck at sports and stuff. But there are a few things I am good at: cybernetics, robotics, and my forte: A.I. programs. LSN-1984 is actually the latest and most successful of all my A.I.s. her intelligence was made, but how to interact and respond to others, as well as her emotions, that was self-taught and learned. I treat her like a living person, and as such, she evolved into this: a caring girl that also worries and has become my best friend. Now I know what you're thinking, she's just a machine and is only mimicking it. But you're wrong: this is genuine because I programmed her to learn how to behave and respond, and along the way, she learned and evolved more so to be more human. And honestly… I'm more comfortable around A.I.s because unlike people, she learns._

He then turned to look at her, and asked, "By the way, how does the progress of the um… you know what?"

LSN realized it, and pulled away, as she smiled, "Oh yeah." She lifted her right hand up, allowing a chart screen to pop up, as it detailed a growth of sorts. Next to it was a shot of what appeared to be a silver robotic tick, with the words above it, X1,000,000,000,000 Measurement in micros.

"According to the charts, the Nanobots have reached nearly 88% proficiency," LSN replied.

"Cool," Drew said, as he wheeled over to the silver tank. He then pulled out his duffel bag full of the broken Servo-Joints, "Got a little something for them."

He then opened a mailbox-shaped compartment on the side, and dumped the contents in. Once he closed it, the components slid in, as the silver goo interacted with it. It felt the servos and then suddenly, tentacles branched out, breaking them apart visibly. It was almost as if the silver goo was eating the servos. Once they were fully dissolved, LSN's chart updated, as she read out, "The servo-joints' blueprints and layout have been assimilated within. They're incorporating it into the organic structure of the human body."

Drew smiled at that update, "Great."

LSN appeared over to him, as she smiled, "How long do you think before you test it?"

"Well, I have to be sure about it, before I inject myself with the nanobot solution," Drew explained as he wheeled over to a display case, labeled Test Subjects. In it, were carefully reconstructed inanimate objects like a can, telephone, even a more complex cellphone. "So far, inanimate objects are reassembled perfectly, right down to the smallest component." He then frowned as he turned his chair to another part. There, a display of crudely and nightmarish artwork labeled as Organics were shown; the items were just flowers and cacti. "Earlier on, organics have either been twisted or turned inside-out."

LSN nodded, but encouraged, "It's true, but it's only because they didn't know anything about organics. They were giving out interpretations of their own on what organics were. But thanks to your cramming them on organic physiology, and teaching it, things have turned out better."

Drew looked at an updated specimen, and saw a flawless sunflower growing, and smirked, "Yeah, that's true, LSN." But then sighed, "But… we still don't know what it will do to an animal… let alone a human being when it's injected inside. The design is to strengthen the human immunity system as well as to upgrade the human body from ailments or disabilities, repairing cell damage and ridding diseases. But who knows what it will do when that happens."

LSN knew that he was talking about himself. That was the reason why he was making the nanobots: to cure him of his ailment and physical disability. The bone marrow was weakening his bones, muscles, and soon his immune system. The doctors gave him another two years before his body would fail and give out on him. And then he would die. And since he couldn't afford cyberization, he was stuck in a frail body that was slowly dying. It was a living hell for him now. But the nanobots… they might be his only hope now.

She reached out to him, almost wanting to touch his shoulder or hug him in comfort, as she spoke, "Say… Drew…?"

KNOCK KNOCK!

Both nearly jumped from the knock on the door, as Drew looked to LSN and whispered for her to stay out of sight. LSN nodded, and faded away, as the projectors turned off. It wasn't that Drew was ashamed of his A.I.s or anything; he just didn't want others to know about it. A.I. programs that were advanced as her or as unique, people would do anything to have. Try to give him money, or bully him to give her up. Or worse, they would threaten him or kill him and just take them all away. It's true that LSN was the only program he was allowing online due to the others being less advanced or too dangerous, but they were still like family that he was trying to protect.

As Drew wheeled to the door, he got over to it, and pressed a button for an intercom connection, "Who is it?"

"Um, Drew? It's me. Maria Takashi."

Drew paled at this, as he gulped, 'What the hell? When did she follow me here? Did she follow me here?! No, wait! WHY IS SHE HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE?!'

"C-Can I come in," she innocently asked.

Drew thought on it for a moment, as he tried to think on it logically on the factors, 'I could let her in, then dismiss her quickly. But why did she come all the way to the slums just to find me? On the other hand, if I let her in, it might be another prank or something set up by Kalvin and the others. But why is she here in the first place?' He sighed, as he opened the roll-in door.

Maria stumbled in, as she steadied herself, "That was the first time I was allowed entry through that kind of door." She right herself back up again, as she turned to look at Drew, "I'm sorry that I'm troubling… " but then she realized he was in wheelchair, as she asked, "Why are you in a wheelchair? Where's your exo-skeleton?" She looked around and saw the exo-suit being powered. "Oh, I see. You're charging it," Maria smiled figuring it out.

[QUITE SIMPLE A REASON. THE BATTERY ONLY LASTS DURING THE DAYTIME.]

That robotic tone had Maria blink at this as she turned to Drew, who had a mini-laptop on the left of his chair, "Um… Drew?"

He suddenly tapped on the laptop very quickly, as he pressed enter, [I AM SORRY, BUT I CANNOT TALK AROUND GIRLS. I SEIZE UP AND SPUTTER UNCONTROLLABLY. THAT AND I AM NOT GOOD WITH PEOPLE. MY APOLOGIES IF THIS FEELS RUDE TO YOU, BUT IT IS THE ONLY WAY I CAN TALK TO YOU. IT WAS ALSO THE REASON WHY I IGNORED YOU DURING WORK.]

Maria blinked and sweatdropped, at this, "Um, okay. That actually explains a lot. For a moment, I just thought you hated me."

[I DO APOLOGIZE TO YOU FOR THAT], Drew typed, as he led Maria to the kitchen. [CAN I GET YOU SOME TEA? IT HELPS WHEN TALKING.]

Maria nodded, as she followed, "Yes, thank you."

[WOULD YOU LIKE SOME HINEY WITH IT?]

Both stopped as that word was uttered; Drew was blushing like crazy while Maria looked shocked, as she turned to him, and asked, "Hiney?"

Quickly, Drew typed fast, as he then pressed enter, [SORRY. THAT WAS A TYPING ERROR. I MEANT HONEY.] Drew smiled slowly in embarrassment as he tried not to make eye contact, but Maria stiffened a giggle or two from it.

* * *

**Moments Later**

In the living room area, Maria was sitting on the couch as Drew sat across her, with only a coffee table separating the two. Between them on the table was a tea pot and two cups of tea made out for the both of them. Drew was sweating bullets while Maria was calmly looking at her glass, but the first was freaking out in the inside, 'WHAT THE HELL CAN I SAY TO HER?! I CAN'T THINK! WHY DIDN'T I TELL HER TO GO?! DAMMIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTT!'

"Y-you know…" Maria began, still looking down at her glass, while Drew quickly looked to her as she began, "It's a little new for me to talk to you like this." A feint blush on her face was showing as she smiled, "Honestly, I was so nervous to speak with you alone at all."

[SO WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO COME HERE,] Drew typed.

Maria set her cup down, as she then brought out her topic of discussion, "I'd like to fund for a cybernetic augmentation for you, Drew."

Drew blinked at this, as he typed, [HUH? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?]

"It's mostly because I learned about your physical problems, and that I know you can't afford cyberization," Maria explained, looking rather sympathetic. "I just don't want anything bad to happen to you."

Drew arched an eyebrow at this sudden sign of her, as he then typed, [THIS SEEMS A BIT CONFUSING. WHY ARE YOU WANTING TO SPEND MONEY OR TIME ON ME? I'M NOT EVEN A HIGH-CLASS CITIZEN LIKE YOU.]

Maria seemed a bit embarrassed on that, as she explained, looking bashful, "Well, do you remember back in middle school… when you were kneeling on the streets?"

Drew blinked, [HUH?]

"It was during middle school. We both attended at the same class and same place," Maria explained, but smiled bashfully. "Though I didn't think you noticed." But she returned to normal, as she explained, "It was when we had that field trip to the San Andreas Park, an elderly woman and her grandchild were about to be beaten by a thug that bumped into them. But you ran in, trying to apologize and bowing, saying that they were at fault and that it wouldn't happen again on your behalf."

Drew grimaced, as he typed, [I REMEMBER THAT DAY. THE THUG BEAT ME UP AND KICKED ME AROUND UNTIL A FEW ENFORCER DRONE 208 MODELS SHOWED UP. I WAS THEN BILLED FOR A MEDICAL TREATMENT I COULD BARELY AFFORD.] Maria also grimaced, not realizing that either, until Drew typed, [WHY DOES THAT DAY SHARE SOME KIND OF SIGNIFICANCE?]

Maria looked rather embarrassed or bashful, as she rubbed her legs together underneath the end table, as she confessed, "I was among the crowd that witnessed the scene. I wanted to try and stop it myself, but in honesty, I'm not as brave as that. But there you were, without any cybernetics or fighting capability, and you stood up for them." She looked at him, as she smiled, "I thought back then you were pretty amazing."

Drew felt like kicking himself at this point; this girl thought he was amazing, and he did his best to ignore or stay away from her. But the fact that she thought he was amazing, just made him hate himself more. [I DON'T THINK I WAS SO AMAZING BACK THEN,] Drew confessed, as he explained. [IN TRUTH, I WANTED TO PASS BY MYSELF AS I FELT I SHOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN INVOLVED, BUT MY BODY MOVED ON ITS OWN. ESPECIALLY WHEN THAT MAN GOT HIS HANDS ON THE BODY AND PROCEEDED TO ALMOST BEAT THE KID TO DEATH.] He then looked at Maria as he shook his head, [AND NO, MY EXO-FRAME WASN'T BROKEN AT THE TIME; MY BODY REALLY DID MOVE BY ITSELF. SO IT WASN'T REALLY AMAZING, IT WAS EMBARRASSING, BUT MORESO WHEN I JUST FOUND OUT YOU SAW ME.]

Maria shook her head, as she still smiled, "Nevertheless, you were still amazing."

Drew blinked at this, as he asked, [OKAY, I'M CONFUSED. HAPPY THAT YOU THINK THAT, BUT STILL CONFUSED.]

"Well, it's easy for strong individuals to solve the problem with strength and violence," Maria explained. "But it's more amazing when someone weak stands up to their adversaries, despite all the odds against them." Maria sighed, as she seemed ashamed, as she went on, "At the time, I was really scared myself. I couldn't even move or try to take a step forward to intervene. I thought of asking anyone for help, but everyone seemed to just ignore the scene, almost as if they didn't care."

She then seemed to brighten a bit as she looked at Drew, "That's why when high school started, I was happy to see we both went to the same school."

Drew arched an eyebrow, as he asked, [UM… WHY?]

"Because no matter what everyone else says, I know the truth," Maria replied, as she smiled at him. "Ever since that day, Andrew Kognitz, you are the strongest person in my heart."

Drew was in complete denial but amazed as he thought, 'Is she being serious? Is this the reason why she's been smiling at me, hanging around me?' In truth, it was actually touching that she thought of him like that, but the reality was far from it, even as he typed it out, [I'M HAPPY YOU THINK THAT, BUT THE TRUTH IS RATHER PLAIN: I'M NOT STRONG, AND NOT BECAUSE OF MY FAILING HEALTH OR THE LACK OF ADVANCED CYBERNETICS LIKE EVERYONE ELSE. IF ANYTHING, I JUST AVOID CONFRONTATIONS AT BEST, BUT FOR SOME REASON, I GET INVOLVED. LIKE WITH THE FACTORY TODAY WITH SIMON.] Maria seemed to take that into consideration, as Drew did lose a friend, even if he was a droid, but didn't speak as he continued, [HONESTLY, I HATE IT THAT I'M SO WEAK AND DON'T FIT WITH ANYONE. EVEN GROWING UP, I FELT INFERIOR AND WEAK COMPARED TO EVERYONE FORTUNATE TO BE ABLE TO AFFORD MODIFICATION AND CYBERIZATION. I'M ONLY A BURDON TO NORMAL PEOPLE. MY EXISTENCE DOESN'T REALLY MEAN MUCH TO THE LIVING. I THINK THAT'S WHY I FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE WITH MACHINES AND A.I.S: THEY'RE A BIT LIKE ME. THEY EXIST BUT EVERYONE SEEMS TO HATE THEM, USING THEM AS EXCUSES TO VENT OUT THEIR FRUSTRATION. AND THE WORST PART, WHENEVER THEY FIGHT BACK, THEY'RE LABELED AS DEVIANTS BECAUSE THEY BREAK THE RULES ABOUT TRYING TO DEFEND THEMSELVES FOR IT.]

Maria shook her head, as she gave him a smile, "Even so, I still think that way about you, Drew. To me, you're stronger than you think." She gestured all around the place, "This place, the wheelchair and suit you made, and even with whatever it is you're working behind the tarp as I walked in…" Drew looked shocked, but Maria assured her, "I won't ask what you're working on, but even so, you're able to make yourself strong and useful when the world won't let you. Am I right?"

Drew shrugged, [I GUESS…]

"In truth, I've always admired that about you," Maria confessed. "You know that you're weak, but you're strong enough to do something when push comes to shove." She looked embarrassed as she confessed, "I also don't mind your bad parts; everyone has them."

[EVEN YOU?]

Maria nodded, "Even me. Anyone can get stronger when and if they want to. But the strength of the will and the heart isn't something you gain so easily."

This confession was actually something that touched Drew considerably, as he blinked, 'This is actually the first time anyone outside my existing family… ever approved of me like this…' it made him feel happy… but in honesty… it almost made him afraid. That approval could also be revoked rather easily; that's how people were.

"Which is why… I don't want you to do any more reckless stuff, Drew," Maria interrupted Drew's train of thought, as he blinked, as she continued. "I want to fund for a full-body prosthesis for you. It's my way of saying thank you. You don't have to worry about paying or any long-term payment plans. I can…"

"I…" Drew started talking, without the use of typing, but it was rather fumbled, as he spoke up, "I appreciate the offer, Miss Takashi, but I have other alternatives."

She wanted to insist, as she tried to reason, "But I…"

"I think you should go, Miss Takashi," Drew replied, as he wheeled his chair out ot the main lobby. Realizing he wasn't going to back down on his decision, Maria set the tea down, and stepped out, as Drew led her to the door. She wanted to talk to him again, but Drew opened the door preventing such discussion. Taking the hint, Maria walked out to where her driver, who didn't seem to like being around the slums for so long, opened the door without haste, as Maria went in, but not before taking a look back as Drew was closing the door.

But before it fully closed, Maria called out, "I won't give up on helping you, Drew!" But he didn't respond as the door closed. Once she was in the vehicle, she told herself, "No. I won't give up."

And the vehicle drove off, or hovered out of there, as it had a hover conversion done on it. In the alleyways though, several glowing red optics watched as the vehicle shot out of there, and now were looking at the Kognitz residence with malice intentions.

* * *

**An Hour Later**

After Drew had cleaned up and put everything away, he went right back to work on his research and development. All in all, LSN walked around to help out with observation. But as she did, she asked aloud, "Why didn't you take up on her offer?"

Drew blinked, as he turned to face her while she observed the tanks, "Huh?"

"I mean she was offering you full body prosthesis, Drew," LSN replied. "Why wouldn't you accept it?"

Drew turned back to his research, as he replied, "Honestly, I want to make it on my own. Build on my own steam on this. I won't accept something like that; I just don't feel comfortable if everyone provides for me instead of me trying to provide on my own."

LSN leaned on the table, or acted like she did, and confessed, "I have to admit, I felt a bit jealous when you two talked."

Drew looked to her and asked, "Why's that?"

LSN pulled her hair back a little, and confessed, "Because she had a name. And I have LSN-1984 as my designation."

Drew thought on it, and snapped his fingers in realization, "Oh yeah, that's right." And then turned to her, "I never gave you a name yet, did I?" He thought on it, even with her looking at him calmly, and then he smirked, "Allison."

"Allison?"

He nodded, "Yeah, taken after LSN because it sounds like Allison. And Ally could be a nickname."

LSN, now Allison, smiled, "I like it, Drew. Thank you so much." But then she blushed a little, as she asked, looking rather bashful, "Say, Drew?"

He blinked, as he asked, "What's up?"

She looked even more shy, as she asked, "Well, um… I was wondering… if I was a real girl… would you take me as a girlfriend?"

Drew blinked at that, as he let that simmer in his brain. Lately, Allison had become more sentient and more human in thought and personality. And it was true she was the more rational and successful of all of his A.I.s that he had made, showing no signs of craziness or instability in her personality or software. And even more so, he could talk to her freely, no stuttering or seizing up; she was great to be around all the time. Recently, she had been saying stuff that made little to no sense, like what she had said now for example.

Drew leaned in his chair, as he thought, "Well, I…"

But before an answer could ever be met, the lights went off, causing Drew to blink. Luckily, Allison and the other stuff were on a separate generator, so she didn't go off. But the darkness was troubling and much confusing to say the least, even for the young man. Blackouts weren't even common in this part of town, so this was a new one. He wheeled out, as he signaled Allison to disappear for a moment, as she did so, as he reached the door to the main lobby.

Out in the center, and called out, "Hello?" Only silence, as Drew called out again, "Hello? Is anyone here? There's not a whole lot I have, so…"

THWACK!

Something smashed into Drew, causing him to fall out of the chair, as he scrambled to try and get back to it. However, someone kicked it aside, as in the dimness of the darkness, he could make out the figures. All he could make out were glowing red eeys, as he backed away to his Exo-frame. Though one of the thugs pulled it away, as they tossed it aside.

Drew tried to reason as he spoke, "Look, I don't have much, and I don't know why…"

BLAM!

The sudden sound of a gunshot rung through, as silence flung through. Drew, still alive, though… freaked out as he cried out in pain. For at that moments ago, the lead thug had used a shotgun and shot off Drew's right arm. He clutched the bloody stump to where his arm used to be, as it had been flung to the other side of the room by one of the thugs, who proceeded to use it as a back scratcher in a screwed up way.

The lead thug stomped over, and delivered a powerful punch to Drew's face, nearly dislocating it. But the leader didn't let up, as he delivered a powerful right cross to Drew's face, sending him crashed to the ground in his lab. The thugs ran in and began to wreck up the place. They even stole some stuff as they were trashing the place Peter tried to get up, but Roland kicked him in the stomach, as he threatened, "Stay down, Kognitz." But Drew, despite the pain and bloodloss, slowly tried to get away as he crawled to the lab tables, but the leader kicked him harder, as he shouted, "I SAID STAY DOWN, KOGNITZ! YOU WEAK AND MISERABLE NOBODY!" And then proceeded to kick the snot out of the downed boy, despite him not attempting to get back up.

Two of the other goons joined in, kicking him while down on the ground. Though two others who had looted before, were setting up bombs all over the place.

As the boys kicked and beat him up, the leader's masked but satisfied face smirked at the downfall of Drew, as he scoffed, "You know, just cause you're a cripple doesn't mean you get special treatment from a babe like Maria."

Drew, blacking out a bit, managed to hear that, as he thought, 'Maria? How they know about… her..?'

They stopped beating him up long enough, but it wasn't out of mercy. The two goons then grabbed him, and violently shoved him into an electrical diode and pinned him there. The bolts of electricity shot around Drew, as he spasmed and nearly cooked. Though parts of his flesh started to crack and sizzle as electricity was cooking his backside.

They let him go, as he dropped to the ground, barely able to breathe. The damage on his back was significantly bad, as it was plain to see. Skin was cooked and cracked as blisters of electrified flesh was shown from his torn shirt. Parts of cooked muscle and bone stuck out; the sight was painful to even look at. Not even slow streams of blood shooting out of the wounds made it bearable to see. But the gang leader was about to stomp on the poor boy more.

But one of his goons stopped him, as he told him, "That's enough. He's not gonna live much longer anyway."

He pulled away, as he was about to stomp on Drew's head, "I'll feel better knowing he's dead."

"Tell you what," the goon setting up the bombs, as he walked in, "This will make sure he's head."

The goons all smirked as they made their way out, even as the slowly living Drew managed to look up, gasping for air. The leader turned around one last time, as he gave him a finger gesture shaped like a gun, and then walked off. Not able to walk, Drew was slowly crawling to the table, just as Allison's hologram came back on.

Once she saw him, she broke down as she ran over to him, "DREW!" she knelt down, as she tried to hold him, but due to her body, that wasn't possible, as she cried, "This is horrible! Why would they do this?" But then she noticed the bombs on the generators, and saw there was only five seconds left, as it was reaching Zero. She looked down, as she tearfully confessed, "Drew, I lo…"

0:00

KA BLAM!

The explosion lit up the room, and was strong enough to throw Drew into one of the remaining nano-goo cylinder vials. The building cracked up and started to shake. Due to the instability and not to mention the foundation was built on the remains of what didn't fall down from the San Andreas earthquake. The floor cracked and widened, revealing a sewer system down below. It was any wonder how Drew didn't get swallowed up at the time. Drew slid down from the glass vial, that suddenly shattered from the blast and the instability.

And the silver contents spilled atop the barely alive Drew. Some of the liquid seemed to drip off of him, but if anyone saw carefully, it seeped into his skin. Drew's heavy breathing was all he could hear, as he looked at the burning and crumbling place that was once his home… for the last time.

And then it happened.

He arched his back as he jolted, coughing or choking but not from the pain. He continued to cough violently, even as Allison flickered on and off from the failing power system, and looked at it in horror, unable to talk due to a damaged audio system from the blast. He hunched over, as he saw from his only arm, silver cracks and spots appeared on his body, breaking down. It went further on the cellular level, as his DNA seemed to be attacked by the relentless nanobots. His whole body was breaking down and disintegrating, killing the very core and blueprint of his being.

He finally roared out in pain, as slowly but surely, Drew was being rotted alive. As the screams were becoming more gargled and the floor beneath him was crumbling, his left leg lost most of its integrity, falling apart at the knee as it snapped in two. This caused him to fall down into the blackened pit beneath him even as Allison called out and looked in horror, and tumble to the side, and fell down into the black abyss of the sewers, and into the water. Once it was in the water, Drew's body broke down even farther, disintegrating into the water, until it was nothing but a puddle of silver slime.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

Back on the surface, the fiery remains of Drew's home became a huge bonfire. Even for those that watched the fire as they just stood by watching the fire burn or waiting for the fire department to at least show up. However, at that moment, a familiar limousine popped up, as the vehicle stopped. And then out in a frantic, Maria got out and ran through the crowd, getting in front to see if what she was seeing was true. She collapsed onto her knees, as the realization was too much to her, even with her eyes tearing up.

Until finally, she cried out, "DREEEEW!"

* * *

**Back in the Sewers**

The silver goo remains floating in or on the water, in a microscopic level, as it drifted down the pathway following the current of the water.

* * *

_Okay, I know what you're thinking. I died? And this was supposed to be a story, right? Well, I'll tell ya: this was the beginning._

* * *

Life didn't die there.

Drew's DNA, though broken down, was being rebuilt by the nanobots; it was almost a fusion of flesh and machine was beginning. Something far more advanced than any cybernetics known at the time. The broken DNA then began to recombine, eliminating ill and sickly segments in it, reinforcing it. Possibly making it stronger. It was almost as if Drew didn't die at all, but was being rebuilt slowly.

For whatever or why ever this began or started, it brought about the birth of not just a new cyborg… but something far more powerful than any lifeform on the planet.

* * *

_Life Finds a Way… to make me vomit. You'll get what I mean._

* * *

**Next Chapter: Nerd Gets an Upgrade; Cyberwolf on the Hunt pt.3**


	4. Nerd Upgrade pt3

**Cyber-Werez 2147**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Nerd Gets an Upgrade; Cyberwolf on the Hunt pt.3**

* * *

**Sewers**

As before, the Sewers of the Old were actually the ruins of the old cities of which Scrap-Iron was built atop. After the Big One had gone off, the earthquake had sucked down most of the ruins of the city down below. The remains were divided and smooshed into hills and a canyon caused the tectonic plates and wreckage caused by the earthquake, and as such road bridges and walkways were built atop the canyon crevices that made up the top of the ruins. It had become a virtual maze of a sewage ruin. Whatever Scrap-Iron City dumped or flushed, it ended up in this watered tunneled maze of a sewer system.

The silver goo remains floating in or on the water, in a microscopic level, as it drifted down the pathway following the current of the water. It barely moved or pulled apart from it, much simply remaining a single blob. Which was odd since usually foreign liquids would branch out or dilute itself when in water, much like blood or oil. But the silver blob remained the same, even as it hit chunks of metal debris. But once it made contact, it started to branch and glomp on said materials, absorbing it into itself as it got bigger. It seemed there was still life within the blob of nanobots as the further it got down, the more debris it washed to. And the more debris it came into contact, the more it absorbed, and the more it absorbed, the bigger it got.

But the real activity came within.

Somewhere floating in darkness, Drew floated, bare as the day he was born. Within, he floated and seemed lifeless, but his mind was burning with thoughts and questions.

'Where… am I,' Drew thought. But then it came back with scattered thoughts.

_He arched his back as he jolted, coughing or choking but not from the pain. He continued to cough violently, as he hunched over, as he saw from his only arm, silver cracks and spots appeared on his body, breaking down. His whole body was breaking down and disintegrating, killing the very core and blueprint of his being._

_He finally roared out in pain, as slowly but surely, Drew was being rotted alive. As the screams were becoming more gargled and the floor beneath him was crumbling, his left leg lost most of its integrity, falling apart at the knee as it snapped in two. This caused him to fall down into the blackened pit beneath him even as Allison called out and looked in horror, and tumble to the side, and fell down into the black abyss of the sewers, and into the water. Once it was in the water, Drew's body broke down even farther, disintegrating into the water, until it was nothing but a puddle of silver slime._

'Oh. I was broken down and died. The nanobots broke me down. I don't even know why they did that. They were supposed to heal me, not tear me apart. Guess it failed,' Drew thought as he realized it, but questioned, 'So… am I dead? Is this heaven or hell? It's just… blackness.' The blonde boy sighed, as he pondered, 'How did all this happen? Why did it happen?'

After that, his memories flooded back to what had led to this:

_Something smashed into Drew, causing him to fall out of the chair, as he scrambled to try and get back to it. However, someone kicked it aside, as in the dimness of the darkness, he could make out the figures. All he could make out were glowing red eyes, as he backed away to his Exo-frame. Though one of the thugs pulled it away, as they tossed it aside._

_Drew tried to reason as he spoke, "Look, I don't have much, and I don't know why…"_

_BLAM!_

_The sudden sound of a gunshot rung through, as silence flung through. Drew, still alive, though… freaked out as he cried out in pain. For at that moments ago, the lead thug had used a shotgun and shot off Drew's right arm. He clutched the bloody stump to where his arm used to be, as it had been flung to the other side of the room by one of the thugs, who proceeded to use it as a back scratcher in a screwed up way._

_The lead thug stomped over, and delivered a powerful punch to Drew's face, nearly dislocating it. But the leader didn't let up, as he delivered a powerful right cross to Drew's face, sending him crashed to the ground in his lab. The thugs ran in and began to wreck up the place. They even stole some stuff as they were trashing the place Peter tried to get up, but he kicked him in the stomach, as he threatened, "Stay down, Kognitz." But Drew, despite the pain and bloodloss, slowly tried to get away as he crawled to the lab tables, but the leader kicked him harder, as he shouted, "I SAID STAY DOWN, KOGNITZ! YOU WEAK AND MISERABLE NOBODY!" And then proceeded to kick the snot out of the downed boy, despite him not attempting to get back up._

_Two of the other goons joined in, kicking him while down on the ground. Though two others who had looted before, were setting up bombs all over the place._

_As the boys kicked and beat him up, the leader's masked but satisfied face smirked at the downfall of Drew, as he scoffed, "You know, just cause you're a cripple doesn't mean you get special treatment from a babe like Maria."_

_Drew, blacking out a bit, managed to hear that, as he thought, 'Maria? How they know about… her..?'_

_They stopped beating him up long enough, but it wasn't out of mercy. The two goons then grabbed him, and violently shoved him into an electrical diode and pinned him there. The bolts of electricity shot around Drew, as he spasmed and nearly cooked. Though parts of his flesh started to crack and sizzle as electricity was cooking his backside._

_They let him go, as he dropped to the ground, barely able to breathe. The damage on his back was significantly bad, as it was plain to see. Skin was cooked and cracked as blisters of electrified flesh was shown from his torn shirt. Parts of cooked muscle and bone stuck out; the sight was painful to even look at. Not even slow streams of blood shooting out of the wounds made it bearable to see. But the gang leader was about to stomp on the poor boy more._

_But one of his goons stopped him, as he told him, "That's enough. He's not gonna live much longer anyway."_

_He pulled away, as he was about to stomp on Drew's head, "I'll feel better knowing he's dead."_

"_Tell you what," the goon setting up the bombs, as he walked in, "This will make sure he's head."_

_The goons all smirked as they made their way out, even as the slowly living Drew managed to look up, gasping for air. The leader turned around one last time, as he gave him a finger gesture shaped like a gun, and then walked off. Not able to walk, Drew was slowly crawling to the table, just as Allison's hologram came back on. _

'I don't understand,' Drew thought to himself, unaware that the silver blob that was his body had reached the outside. 'Why would someone want to kill me? I'm nobody. Always have. Always will be.'

There, the blob slowly formed its way on the shore where the landfills of the Scrapyard were formed. There, mountains of shrapnel, metal, and junk were piled up. The mountains of landfills stretched as far as skyscrapers as they nearly blotted out the sun. even used cyber parts or cyborg bodies not sent for recycling or bio-recycling were scattered and towered up. All in all, the blob slithered onto shore, shooting out tendrils that latched onto metal or cyber parts, adding to its mass. But as it stopped at a certain level, it suddenly started branching out small slender tendrils big enough to be wires, as they started building up in height and shape. For the moment, it looked like it was building up to a technologically organic brain an nervous system, and around it building in the height a similarly designed techno-organic endoskeleton.

All the while, Drew wherever he was, curled up in a fetal position, as he begged, 'Please… someone help me…' But memories flashed in his mind of how that wouldn't be possible.

"_Why do you bother with him, Maria?" Kalvin Redick asked Maria._

_Emile, looking smug, as he shrugged, speaking to Maria, "Forget about him. There's no use to talking to such a useless weirdo." He then turned up his nose at Drew, as he finished, "He can't even afford any cyber-upgrades."_

_Kalvin walked up and looked down at Drew, as he lectured, "Kognitz. When are you going to stop fawning over Maria? She can't give you attention forever."_

_The cybergirl making out on his locker looked at Drew, disgusted, as she shot out, "Do you mind?"_

As his mind started to think on it, the skeleton now as becoming partially muscled with cybernetic techno-organic muscles that were more organic build than the usual cybernetic.

"_What? Did you really think Maria would actually show up for a cowardly loser like you?" Emile chuckled, as did his 'harem', "I only wrote down to come behind the gym. It never said she'd meet you there. How could Maria like you at all?" _

Drew's aura grew darker, as more negative memories echoed through his mind and soul.

"_Lookit. It's the fleshbag."_

"_I heard he's got some physical disability or a weak skeleton or something. They say he's got another four years before he croaks."_

"_Why doesn't he get cyber augmentation? It could save his life."_

"_He's dirt poor. Can't even afford spine neck or palm jacks."_

"_What a loser."_

"_Nobody's gonna miss him."_

As the memories haunted him, his whole body seemed to darken and blacken. It was almost as if his will to live was breaking and decaying, all because of these negative memories, as his own thoughts echoed as he felt all this, 'I don't wanna die. But what's waiting for me back, so dying would be easy. But I want to live for some odd reason. But still, what's waiting for me back there? In a world of nothing but those that want me dead…'

The muscles around the strange structure began to form up, while a silver and dark silver skin-like coating began to form at the toes and then slowly build itself up the body, even as Drew's thoughts in the darkened place continued. His blackened body began to crack as the darkness got worse on him. All that was left was his face, as it was slowly creeping up, as his thoughts echoed such darkness, 'I don't want to die… but I… I honestly don't have a clue as to what I want to live for. What is there for me… ' as the blackness and cracks reached his face, slowly creeping up on his entirety, as all that was left was his left closed eye, as the blackness crept up on it, as his last thought darkened, 'What is there left for me… to live…?'

"_Say, Drew?"_

For a moment, that familiar voice echoed in his mind, as the darkness halted around his eye, as it twitched. It was her voice.

'Allison…'

"_Allison?"_

_He nodded, "Yeah, taken after LSN because it sounds like Allison. And Ally could be a nickname."_

_LSN, now Allison, smiled, "I like it, Drew. Thank you so much." But then she blushed a little, as she asked, looking rather bashful, "Say, Drew?"_

_He blinked, as he asked, "What's up?"_

_She looked even more shy, as she asked, "Well, um… I was wondering… if I was a real girl… would you take me as a girlfriend?"_

'That's right,' he thought as suddenly, the blackness seemed to depart, as it lightened up a bit. 'I never gave her an answer on that question.'

As he remembered the teary terrified look on her face, as she was helpless to try and save him, something sparked back in him. As the skin finished forming on the body, its head started to grow strands of what appeared to be light neon green hair. And all over its body, light green microchip patterns began to light and draw around it on some parts. Within the darkness, Drew's body was going through something similar, but at his chest a green light began to grow and pulsate like a heart.

'I want to live.'

Drew's thoughts pulsated fast along with the heart's tone, as Drew's determination was coming through, breaking through the blackness, 'I want to live and give Allison an answer. She's out there by herself. I want to live so she's not alone as I was.' Flashes of his memory from his classmates came up, as the silver/dark silver/light green body began to suddenly twitch a little at the fingers as signs of life, 'Screw my classmates. Screw the school.' Memories of his workplace also was thrown in there, as his anger started to boil, and the light green patterns began to pulsate and glow brighter, 'Screw my co-workers who looked down at me!' And what even pushed him further was seeing Maria's sympathetic smile to him; always making him feel small. She was the true source of his misery: if she hadn't had stalked him around like a little lost puppy, was the final stroke, as he screamed out…

"AND SCREW YOU, MARIA TAKASHI!" the body's eyes suddenly opened, revelaing black sockets, only for a light green dot to appear to act as the pupil, as the figure shouted, "I'M GONNA LIVE ON MY OWN TERMS AND NOT ON ALL YOURS! SO SCREW EVERYONE WHO WANTED TO BRING ME DOWN AND DEAD! I'M GONNA LIVE TO SPIT IN YOUR FACE!"

But the figure blinked, as he spoke in Drew's voice, "Eh?"

The figure looked around, and saw his surroundings before him among the hills and near mountains of scrap and tossed refuse. As he looked, his eyesight almost seemed more cybernetic, as it had displays and zoom-in functions. There were even small boxes of data displayed. This slightly worried the figure, as he gulped, "Okay, this is neat and all, but how do I make it go normal..?' And just like magic, it seemed to do so, as he wished or willed it to happen. The figure blinked, "Okay, that's less to worry about now…"

He looked around as he stumbled a bit on something, but he stopped himself, as he grabbed a hold of a piece of what was a car. As he held himself, he looked and saw from a broken mirror, his appearance… or at least his what he thought was him.

It had taken the shape of a sixteen-year-old male, colored dark grey, with light gray as its main body, and had green circuitry patterns all over its body, most noticeably on his cheeks, pecs, shoulders, hips, thighs, greaves, ankles, wrists, back, shoulder blades, and knuckles. He had short spikey green hair that spiked forward with a gray streak on the sides, dark gray squares in the shape and place of ears, a light gray face plate resembling that of a human, and light gray fingers and toes. He looked down, and saw that he now had a toned slim body, as he saw small compact muscles that had him of a kind of athletic build, like a runner or swimmer. His eyes as he blinked, saw that they were black with a green iris and black pupil.

Drew touched his face, as he confirmed it, as the reflection matched his movements. He stumbled back, as he blinked, "Holy cow. That's a change."

Drew looked at himself, as his new body seemed to function just as well as a human's. As his. Though as he stumbled a bit and straighten himself out, he began to realize. He was physically stronger now. Maybe even more able than he was before. Looking at his hands, and then around the place, he smirked as he thought to test how strong he was.

In a flash, he bolted towards the garbage heaps, as he sprinted like an athletic runner. As he did this, his thoughts blazed, 'This is amazing. I couldn't sprint like this before. Even with the exo-frame.'

It was like he was a mountain goat, as he bolted up on the hills of scrap. Hopping from one ledge to another and to another, with inhuman accuracy and agility. Whenever he seemed to slip, it seemed his body reacted to counter the situation, getting him well-balanced and back on the ledges. He flipped and climbed with amazing accuracy and grace; it was almost as if he had been programmed to be a gymnast with those careful and graceful moves. He managed to finally get to the top, as he looked around in wonder at his accomplished feat.

Despite witnessing the great view, he was too amazed at what he had done earlier on as he looked around him, and gasped silently in amazement, "This is amazing. I never climbed at all in my life, and this was my first time. I'm a climber and a gymnast all in one."

However, his footing was starting to give way, as the tip couldn't hold his weight or that the spot was unbalanced. "Oh no," he gasped, as he tried to make it right by stepping or jumping back, but still not getting any footing, as it was quickly tumbling down with a wave of scrap below and above him, as gravity took him down, as he cried out, "Oh CRAAAAAP!"

And suddenly in a loud roar and crash of metal and debris, the pile crashed down on him as dust and dirt swept over. As it finally settled, all seemed down and dead… until Drew suddenly dug himself out of the scrap, and looked around. He then looked down at himself, and saw a few pipes sticking out of him. But blinked, as he felt no pain, not even the faintest bit of airlessness one would get if they were impaled. He yanked out the pipes as he looked down, seeing the holes and injuries repairing themselves. And then finally, all of it disappeared, not even leaving much of a scar or scab.

Drew blinked, as he looked at a severed finger rebuilding itself from scrap metal embedded into his head. The metal was being melted and eaten; being used as bio-metal mass for his hand. The boy blinked, as he whispered, "I think it worked a little too well."

Suddenly, his hand began to change color tone and texture, as it went from its silver gray, dark gray, and green… to a tanned hue of flesh color of Caucasian. It suddenly began to spread all over him, as he blinked in surprise, seeing this happening. 'What the…? What's going on,' his mind raced with questions on this, as it now fully completed.

Now standing in place of the Silver and Green version of himself, was now a human-appeareanced version of his former self. Well, slightly. He was still Caucasian, tanned, and had his blonde hair and green eyes. Though now there was a lot of changes. His body was leaner and stronger, though not bulky; his body was thickened with small muscles that were compact, giving him the body frame of an athletic runner or swimmer. His hair was cut short, like a buzz cut but less military and more teen relaxed, as strands were long enough to make bangs and swept to the right. His height increased a little, meaning he was no longer a lanky shorty. But he saw that on his palms, or rather the thumb area were grey ports, along with two diamond shapes on his outer forearms, and he felt around his neck and felt four spine jack ports that most cybers had. He was a completely different him now.

When he flexed his right arm, a bicep bulged out with amazing definition, and made sure of it as he poked it.

He gasped in disbelief, "This can't be mine."

He then stopped flexing as he reached down at his mid section, feeling a flat stomach but a compact six pack of abs under there, as he blushed, "Those were never mine." He then felt his chest feeling small yet smooth pecks, "Those weren't mine either…"

He then out of curiosity looked down between his legs, and then blushed as he gulped, "Now _that_ can't be mine. I don't remember being that big." He looked up and shook his head as he smirked and chuckled, "I guess the Nanobots did a heck of a job _rebuilding_ me."

But then he blinked, as he remembered his home, and a shocked expression on his face, "Oh no… Allison." He then, without much thought, jumped down from the scrap to the ground below, skiing his way down using his own feet, and landed in a roll on the ground.

"I gotta get back and hope she's okay," he told himself, as he stood up… but then as he made the first step, he looked down, and blushed. He then looked away, scratching his cheek, "But first, I need something to wear."

* * *

**Few Nights Later**

**Drew's Former Home**

In the remnants of the old building that used to be Drew's home, and the room that used to be his lab, there was equipment still online and powered. Though sparks and broken/cut wires sparked without end, as it showed it could have gone at any time. Though still propped on the still standing but well-destroyed desk, the holo projector for the table still remained, generator still hooked up, and a doll-sized projection of Allison remained. She was curled up in a fetal position, her arms tucked around her legs, as her feet pointed downward, as Allison's head hung down. Despite nobody knowing about this place, she waited for the anyone to come pick her up, or to scrap her. The fires had died out on their own while she noticed from cameras that the firefighters only prevented the fire from spreading any further from the house. Now she was awaiting for either a scavenger to take her to get sold off … or for the same people who ransacked their home and just flat out destroy her, as it was evident now that there was no one left to come and help her.

And why would they? She was an A.I, and from what Drew told her about work, people held great prejudice against the very things they created. Allison closed her eyes, as she accepted the obviousness of her fate. "Lonely…" she whispered, as she allowed darkness and silence to be her norm, "… it's so lonely…" She buried her head in her knees, as she cried, remembering that Drew had died nights ago…

"Drew… I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything," he berated her own weakness, feeling guilty on what had happened. She slowly looked up from her spot, as digital tears streamed down

"Allison!"

Her eyes opened wide, as she looked from the wreckage of the room, and saw a sight she didn't expect. Someone was making their way through the wreckage, wearing tattered blue jeans and a brown worn hooded poncho. But what made her surprised more, was that when he walked closer, he grabbed a massive beam too heavy for even a Heavy Tank cyber to lift… and lifted it like it was a light blanket. She tried to make sense of it, even as he gently pushed it aside, as he walked over.

In fear, she called out, "S-Stay back!" But he wouldn't stop, as he walked forward. Looking around, Allison was in feared as he reached out, and then spoke in a familiar tone, "Allison?"

Once she looked at the being, the light made a better job at getting his face seen. Allison blinked, as she saw clear as day, Drew. Alive, though strangely more handsome and well fit Isaac got to her first. But it didn't matter, as she enlarged herself to human height, despite the projectors shorting out, but it didn't matter to her, as she looked at him at full height. As he straightened up he gently placed a hand on her left facial cheek, as he asked in deep concern, "Hey, you alright? Sorry it took so long, but it's kind of hard to get through the place with being unseen. That and I had to dig through a ton of rubble before I could find anything that could fit me." But he blinked as he saw what was happening.

Allison looked at him, stunned, and surprisingly… was crying, as a few tears streamed out.

Drew seemed confused by this, as he asked, "Allison? You alright? I thought you couldn't feel any pain. I mean, I don't know if your systems or damaged…"

Allison realized it as well, as she wiped her face off, and looked at the remnants of tears on her hands. She then looked to them, and simply returned to normal in appearance, as she responded, "It's nothing. I was simply cleaning my optics. It's a normal function." But she still sniffled a little.

Though Drew seemed to get it, as he softly smiled to her to assure her, "I made you worry nonstop. But I'm alive so you don't have to cry anymore." He gently put his hand on her head, as he smiled, "Hey. Don't cry, Ally. I'm here."

Allison simply smiled, though her tears had dried up, as she stood in front of Drew. Despite the glitchy software projectors and the strange circumstances of Drew and his new look and body, it didn't matter to either one of them. For to both, they had been reunited with each other, and would face whatever would happen in the future.

* * *

**Next Chapter: Nerd Gets an Upgrade; Cyberwolf on the Hunt pt.4**


	5. Nerd Upgrade pt4

**Cyber-Werez 2147**

* * *

**Chapter 4:** **Nerd Gets an Upgrade; Cyberwolf on the Hunt pt.4**

* * *

**2 Years Later**

**City Block – Sunshine Pillar**

The City Block known as Sunshine Pillar was exactly what it sounded like, as during morning the 200 floor pillar could catch the sunlight as it rose over from the East of the US. It was one of the spots in California that could actually catch the sunlight. And ecologically and energy-wise, it was one of the places high enough that could obtain solar energy. As such, it also had a magnificent green house on the 40th floor for those who loved growing anything with tilled earth and plant life, which also was a well-stocked produce center for those who wanted fresh grown vegetables and fruits who couldn't afford public grocer markets. The Sunshine City Block was a ray of light in the fair city of California and the only place that could dare to touch the sky without being punished.

And one of its occupants was one of those individuals that kept the light going in his own way.

* * *

**50****th**** Level**

The 50th floor was one of the neighborhood districts, as well as a place to afford 3 floor apartment complexes. One such lived in complex 5049, and was still asleep in it.

* * *

**Apartment 5049**

The place inside was a well kept living quarters with two floors; the first floor being the living room, kitchen, and entertainment center. The 2nd floor above it was the rest and bathroom quarters. Though all the rooms shared the bathroom, which had an impressive tub and shower system, one room in particular had an only occupant.

The room was obviously for a boy as there were a few spots with clothes piled up in a basket, but a jacket hanging on a wheeled desk chair. The table had cybernetic studies and work brought home, with a few computers hooked up scanning work, as well as holo-projector equipment. Another table had weapons on it, two of them being modified green and grey desert eagles. Next to that table was an armor dummy with a familiar set of armor placed on it. The room also had a closet with an impressive set of clothing but limited to only a few looks, as this person didn't want to expend too much time thinking on what to wear. The bed was located upward off the floor, as it was built into the wall, nearly touching the ceiling, with a stairway to get up there. Apparently it was built like a bunkbed, but the rear of the bed was bolted to the ceiling and into the side of the wall, with a lamp connected next to it to the ceiling for reading. The occupant of the room was currently sprawled on the bed, sleeping from what happened last night.

It was Drew, as he had his right arm upward on the pillow above his head, his left arm was resting on his chest, with his hand rubbing his chest. His left leg was pulled up on the side with his right leg donward, both legs spread apart, with the covers covering his pelvic region. Apparently, he was wearing boxer briefs colored black, as he slept without putting on his pajamas. It seemed last night's job was a bit rough on him, as he slept heavily, drooling at his lip.

One of the projectors moved in place of his bed, and suddenly Allison was floating there, her hands on her hips, as she sighed, looking at the disheveled Drew. She arched an eyebrow and half-scrunched her mouth, as she spoke, "C'mon, Drew. Get up. You're supposed to meet Ducard at Dyson's today. It's almost 10 AM."

"Please, no more autographs… I need this hand to wave," Drew moaned in his sleep, smiling and waving his right hand sleepy-like.

Allison sighed, as she crossed her arms. But then lit up as she got an idea. She 'walked' towards Drew's bed, and then quickly slipped in, snuggling up to him. Drew was still asleep until he heard a soft moan coming from his right. His eyes finally blinked awake, his vision clearing up rather quickly, as he looked to his right… and saw Allison. She looked blissfully asleep, curled up next to him, as her legs were curled around his right, and her boobs smooshed up to his chest, as she sighed like she had a good night.

Suddenly, Drew bolted out of bed, as he fell down, smashing back first into the floor. He groaned, as he slowly sat up, still having his underwear on, as he saw Allison awake and sticking her head out from the bottom of the bed, as she smiled, "Awake at last."

Drew sighed, as he asked, "Ally. What are you doing in my bed?"

Allison giggled, "Oh, it's a little something I picked up to get you out of bed earlier in the morning. Wait til you see how I get you to take a bath."

Drew sighed, "Oh boy…" He then got up and went to the closet. He looked over to a stereo music system link near the door to the hallway, as his left eye flickered green a few rounds. The device read a song entitled Heavy Cyber-Metal by a Rockstar named Johnny Goldfingers, as it played, blazing across the room. As he went back to the closet, he picked out what he needed to wear, and then began getting dressed as he asked Allison, "So what's on today's agenda?"

Allison reappeared standing on the floor looking proper and peppy like a girl going out with her boyfriend, "Well, you still have to go over to Mavericks to get the payment for the job last night. But Dr. Dyson called up and said that Hank was waiting there to go over another job. They're also having lunch over there too."

Drew smiled, as he stepped out, as he was now fully dressed. He was wearing a black tight turtleneck T-shirt with two green lines going down the pecks and under the ribs. He wore blue jeans with dark blue outer thighs and the lower leggings dark blue, with a black belt strap going across the calves and dark green knee pads. He also had a brown belt going around his waist with two satchel packs on both hip sides. He wore black heavy combat sneaker boots that had black buckles on the outer side and straps on his ankles. He also wore black fingerless gloves, and had a military green jacket with grey shoulder guards that went down on the outer part of the biceps.

The blonde smiled as he walked over to the table, "Sounds good. Did he say what they were serving?"

As Drew holstered the two pistols behind him, Allison replied, "No, he wouldn't say what it was, but he did say it was a special."

Drew then placed the palmtop computer on the back of his left hand, and sighed, "Figures. Though I'm hoping it'll have a little bit of protein on it." He then looked to her, and smiled, "Link yourself up to my palmtop?"

Allison smiled, "Of course." She then disappeared, and then a beeping was heard from Drew's left hand. He brought it up as she was now on the screen, as she smiled, "Shall we head out?"

Drew walked out, as he grabbed his keys, "Let's go." And remembered to turn the lights off, as he left the room.

* * *

**Outside**

As he left outside of his apartment, he walked down to the side-walk-sized pathway that let to the balcony to get a glimpse of the Block itself. Outside it was a massive black square tower that stretched up to 200 floors, and had windows for the rooms connected, at least to those that lived there. But on the inside, it was basically a city all on its own. A micro-complex with a diversity of its own as he walked out. The sides of the balcony and drop point as they called it was littered with holographic billboards and ads that almost came to life, literally, as products were being showcased, a few being cyber ads. Drew turned to his right as he walked, seeing escalator bridges and a main industrial elevator going upward.

As he walked, he saw other balconies with people doing business, conversing, or just having some good old fashioned fun time. But as he turned back in front, he was greeted with a few sights, namely one of the girls that lived nearby and knew him as Drew Nanmitz now as Kognitz had been dead for 2 years up. She was a young Caucasian female, eighteen years much like him, with short platinum blonde hair waving down in a shoulder length pixie cut, pale skin with crystal blue eyes, and an athletic but voluptuous body wearing a white shirt that had a strap around the neck to showcase her cleavage in a V neck line, held to a blue mini-skirt with a buckle to hide her bellybutton, and exposed her upper back, and thigh high black legging high-heel boots, with a purse on her left shoulder and a nail file in her hands. She did have a usual spine jack implant as well as a palm jack to boot.

She looked at Drew, as she winked, "Hey, Drew honey."

Drew nodded, as he waved, "Hey, Bambi."

"Thanks for the implant job you and Doc did for me," Bambi replied as she blew him a kiss. "I'll pay you a bonus later on."

Drew turned around as he shrugged, "You already paid us. You don't have to pay any extra. Just seeing you up and about is good enough for me."

Bambi shook her head, as she smiled, "I know. But don't nurses fall in love and sleep with patients later on?" That question caused Drew to blush and then he bolted, as Bambi giggled, "He's so cute."

Once he got into an elevator, Drew closed the door as it went down. He leaned on the wall and sighed, "I don't think I'll ever get used to the attention." He heard a scoffed huff, as he looked at his palmtop and saw Allison not all that happy, "You okay?"

She forced a smile on her face, as her background turned crimson, "I'm perfectly peachy, Drew."

Drew sweatdropped, 'I guess two years hasn't helped it either. She shouldn't be so jealous. It's not like I have a shot at any girls.'

* * *

**Dyson Cyber Repairs**

The Cyber Repair shop was a public clinic in a district neighborhood built next to a City Block. It was surprisingly quaint inside, as it was built on the lower levels of the block, and acted as a clinic for those in need of cyber repairs. It wasn't also surprising that it could also include Black Market cybernetic implants. Mostly to do with combat cyber gear, as the good doctor himself was a Sweeper in his days. Drew opened the door as it led into a clean establishment with a help desk bot, that scanned him, as it continued to do its job with all four arms typing and taking notes, "Greetings, Nurse Drew. Dr. Dyson is in the back, taking a lunch break."

"Thank you, WATSON," Drew nodded and walked passed the desk and into the back.

The work area was a cyber doctor's good place of work space. Near a couple of monitors was a table that could fold into a seat for ease and situations. While on another room was a sterilization and repair station for cyber limbs and inner cyber parts. Though sitting at a makeshift living room with a hot pot on the table was the man in question. He was a fellow of his fifties, short gray hair with blue eyes hidden behind kind glasses, dressed in a white and blue medical outfit with a Red cross on his right shoulder and both sleeves rolled up to his elbows and an apron, mostly for cooking as it said Kiss the Cyber-Cook, brown pants with shoes to boot, making a plate for him. Though unlike the two, he didn't seem to have any cyber implants on him at all. A human who, like Drew, was 100 % human. The man setting up the plates was Doctor Christoph Dyson, a local cyber doctor who was a lot kinder than he seemed and didn't seem to want much cash.

Sitting on the other end was Hank Ducard, the Sweeper that stood up for Drew back in the day… and had become Drew's mentor in this business.

"Hey old guys," Drew nodded as he grabbed a chair and sat in between.

Dyson sighed as he spoke with an Austrian/German cadence in his voice, "Watch the old man comment." He shook his head, as he smirked, "Got a special today for ya."

"What's the special," Drew asked as he took the plate.

"Bell peppers and beef," Dyson replied, and then clicked a tablet that displayed a holographic display of a bounty. The man had dark tan skin, darker brown hair, and sharp eyed that seemed transfixed in a glare, with two silver claw mark cybernetics on the left side of his face. "Well, today's bounty is a new low that gives negative meaning to the truth that there is Honor among Thieves. His name's Asimov Solomon."

"Hey, Chris," Ducard pointed, not looking at the bounty but at his plate.

Drew looked at the bounty and pointed out, "According to this he's worth 3.5 Million credits. Kinda small, don't you think?"

"Where's the beef?"

"The bounty might not be much, but it's the situation with him that's a bit tricky," Dyson explained.

"Chris, this ain't Bell Peppers and Beef."

Both Drew and Christoph sighed, as the latter looked to Hank, and asked, "Are you even listening?"

"You said this dish is Bell Peppers and Beef, right?" Hank replied, as he pointed at his plate, "I don't think you'd call this Bell Peppers and Beef considering there is no beef in it."

Drew looked down at his plate, and then looked at the heat pot. And true enough, there was stir fry bell peppers, but not a slice or sliver of beef in it. So it wouldn't really be called bell peppers and beef. Though Dyson, who looked down at the plate, as he sighed, "Yes, I would."

Hank huffed, "Well, it's not."

"It is when you're broke, alright," Dyson replied.

Though the clinic was open for everyone, most of the customers couldn't afford it and all had IOUs, or those that worked on the farms also had paid in fruits and vegetables. Some having seeds so Dyson had a small garden in the back for his own food. Though nothing for livestock, so no meat or cheese available. He wasn't at the point of starvation, but for his employee, Drew Nanmitz, whom started to work with him 2 years ago, it was something that bugged at him, and used some of his money to help keep the clinic from closing for good.

Though Hank pointed out, while pointing at Dyson with a fork, "And what the hell happened to the billion credits we got from the last job?"

"Ahem," Allison's voice pointed out, as a doll-sized version appeared floating in between all three of them. Both Dyson and Ducard knew of Drew's past and Allison, as it was the latter that found and helped them out. She had become something of a financial bookie of their expenses, as she lamented that Drew should be able to get his own vehicle by now. But at times like this, she also dallied up expenses when dealing with unanswered questions, "I know what happened to it. The repair bill from the stand you wrecked, as well as the repair bill from the vehicle you stole and crashed into said stand, as well as the medical bill from the cop you injured. To put it bluntly…" and then frowned at Hank, "You killed the dough, Ducard."

A moment of silence was among the four, as all the information was set out on the plate, so to speak. Then finally, after everything was clear and the air was silent, except for WATSON typing, Dyson continued, "From what I've heard, it seems a few weeks ago, Asimov and his gang was in a shootout with the local Red Eyes. His men killed the rogue cyber gang and then he killed his men. Word has it he's been hiding in Little Tijuana with a woman and a henchman named Blake Walker."

"Walker? Why does that name sound so familiar," Drew asked.

Dyson pulled up a picture of a Caucasian man in his forties, brown hair growing down to his shoulders and a thick but clean cut beard and piercing grey eyes. "Apparently, he works alongside Boyd," Dyson explained. "Pretty sure you might wanna stay away from that fellah when he learns about what happened to his partner's apprehension last night."

Drew grimaced at that, but Allison then asked, "TJ? Isn't that where the cybergang, El Dorado hang out?"

Drew nodded, "Exactly. I heard they have a proclivity to have gold-colored cyber parts and have a habit of abducting women: Cyber and A.I. And then the male that has them converted not only as gang members but as an addition to said member's harem." Allison grimaced at that thought, but the young blonde boy assured her, "Don't fret, I'm not gonna let you get taken, Ally."

Though Ducard was a bit uncertain as he asked, "I dunno. This place and Asimov, they all sound so small fry to me. I'm not even sure I should take it or pass it."

If there was one thing that Drew learned about his mentor it was two things: he barely saw the guy crack a smile, and two, he was an adrenaline junkie that wanted to take on jobs with a battle feel to it. He occasionally took small fry jobs as he really was a man who had to eat despite his implants and prosthesis. But there was also a third thing: this guy was a meat lover, meaning he was a man who wanted his sandwich with the three basic components: Bread, Spread, and Cheese. If it was just Bread and Cheese, he wouldn't eat the sandwich.

Both Dyson and Drew looked to each other and nodded, "Speaking of TJ, they say the Garnitas over there are out of the states and this world."

Hank's eyebrow arched, clearly interested in getting at least some dish with meat and protein in it.

* * *

**Later On**

**Maverick's Sweeper Station**

The Sweeper Station was actually a side market that worked alongside the Factory. It was built from the remains of what was once a weapons cache and armory store. Now these days it was a hot spot for a kind of Sweeper Guild that was sort of a hangout to get payment when the Factory was too far to travel, or when someone reaches a level of Silver ranking, as Sweepers were rated the following:

Porcelain: Rookie

Obsidian

Steel

Bronze

Ruby

Sapphire

Silver – Highest Rank

Though here it was kind of like an Adventurer's Guild, finding jobs and taking job requests for armored escorts, bounty hunting's, Ruin Excavation (which was worth a lot), hunting down rogue BRAI (Biological Revolutionary of Accelerated Intellect), or just finding a missing natural/cyber pet.

Inside, the boss was filming a commercial for advertisement purposes. She was a striking beauty of her thirties or forties, slender and voluptuous figure with DD cup breasts, slender waist, and legs to die for. She had standard neck and palm implants. She had long dark red hair that cascaded down her back and a bang swept over her forehead ot the right, with dazzling coral pink eyes. She was dressed in a white blouse, yellow jacket, with a yellow and black pencil skirt, black pantyhose and yellow heel shoes, with two bands on her wrists. And she had a warm comforting smile despite the business she had. Shew as Margaret Matchers the head of the Sweeter Station Mavericks.

"Hello, and weclome to Maverick Sweepers. I'm Margarete Matchers the Guild Head at Maverick's Sweepers," she introduced herself on screen, as it recorded while she continued. "Whether it's finding your lost cat or finding a cat burglar, we're here to help day or night." She sat atop the table crossing her legs rather decently, as she continued, "Our team of rookie or professionals will do the job no matter the situation or the pay." She stopped and smiled for the camera in a loving way… but then sighed, as she looked mortified and embarrassed, as she asked, "Do I have to say that, Rossie?"

Before her, crouching down, was a sixteen year old tanned girl with electric blue hair in a bowl cut bang front and going down to her lower back, her hair covering her eyes. She had an athletic build with C cup bust, think waist, long legs, and looks to boot. She was wearing black workout shorts that ended at her thighs, with black and pink sneakers, her legs having silver chip marks as a sign of modification, while she also had the neck and palm implants that were barely noticeable. As well as a baggy black and pink sweater that barely clung to her body, with a black turtleneck sleeveless shirt underneath. This was Rossie Maverick, the daughter of the original head of the Maverick Sweeper Station, as well as Margaret's niece.

"Yeah, Aunt Margie, you do," Rossie frowned, but then bucked up, "We're one of the up and coming friendly Sweeper Stations. We gotta jump on free advertising as it is."

Margaret sighed, "I know but…"

"No buts, Aunt Margie. It's called acting," Rossie replied, as she stood up, with her back to her, as she sighed, "I swear, if I didn't know you, I'd say you were my age."

"Hey, can we get our pay here?"

The two women looked to see Sweepers standing for job payment or assignment. They had been there for a while, and weren't getting any patient with the time going by. For a Sweeper, time was money, and they were losing time on this.

Rossie just ignored it, as she brushed it off, "Quiet on the set, please."

"Well, before that, can I get my pay, please?"

That voice stopped everything as Drew walked forward, in his Sweeper armor and gear, as he passed the other Sweepers. Some of them being rookies hearing stories about him, while a few seasoned Sweepers glared at him. Apparently as the apprentice Sweeper of Hank Ducard didn't really earn a nice reputation. Drew figured that he couldn't escape the cold glares of ship life, but at least they weren't glaring at him due to a one-sided relationship with a girl.

Margaret nodded, and got at the table computer, putting up the holo screens, as she typed in the info, "That's to take care of the Boyd job then?" Drew nodded. Though Rossie looked less than happy.

"Dale Boyd, eh? I heard he was pretty roughed up last night when you brought him in to the Factories for the Iso Cells," Rossie interrogated.

Drew shrugged, as he calmly answered, "Well, he was being stubborn and stupid. He wouldn't give up and go quietly. First he shot at me, then he tried to bribe and stab me, so I had to roughly knock him out."

Rossie shook her head, "That's not the point. If one of our Sweepers is out there, acting like a maniac..!"

"It's a kill or be killed world out there, so if I have to be rough with them, I'll be rougher," Drew replied. But then sternly turned and looked at Rossie as he asked, "You have a problem with a Sweeper wanting to live?"

"NO, but I have a problem with a guy acting too much like his mentor," Rossie berated. "One Hank Ducard in this world is enough."

Drew sighed, as he looked exhausted, "So you heard about his last job then, eh?"

"Who hasn't," Rossie replied. "Seriously. All that and he loses the bounty."

"Speaking of which, Drew, can you hook up," Margaret asked. Drew nodded, as he pulled his palm jack out and plugged it into the computer. His palmtop linked up to the transmission and the transactions began, as Margaret replied, "Alright, that concludes the bounty of Dale Boyd. Money has been transferred. And done." Drew then took out the jack and the cord slicked back in, as he flexed his palm. As he was about to leave, Margaret smiled, "And Drew? Tell Hank to be careful out there. You as well."

Drew didn't turn around, but he gave her a thumbs up as he walked away. Rossie sighed, as she looked to her legal guardian, "Seriously, Auntie. I get he's the apprentice of your brother and my dad's friend, but that doesn't mean you can go easy on him."

However, memories of what happened 2 years ago came back, of Hank bringing in an exhausted but revealed Drew in his Nano-Cyber body. The recovery and helping of him settle into a new life. Even Drew wanting to become a Sweeper to hunt down the Red Eyes that caused the accident as well as to reclaim what was stolen, but mostly to figure out how and why. But in all that, she remembered a defeated young man helping out Hank reconnect with others.

Margaret smiled, "I know." But then smiled, "But what else can I do for a young man that does so much?"

* * *

**Little Tijuana aka Heywood District**

**Vista Del Rey**

The Heywood District was one of those areas in Scrap Iron that retained a little bit of the culture that was lost before the last war. The north bordered the city center where you'd find lush parks and skyscrapers towering high above, but in the lower sector… things got rough. Dangerous and unwelcoming slums dominating the urban landscape. The El Dorados and 7th Street Gangs have complete control over this particular district, and were constantly fighting.

Vista Del Rey was actually the poorest district of the area, and was dramatically afflicted with poverty and violence. Gangs overrun the area. The streets were definitely less crowded than the rest. Graffiti covered the walls of crumbling buildings, clearly indicating the El Dorados were in charge there. That being said, the 7th Street gangs also held territory there as well. The area was filled with poor folks and gangers, but the gangs and suppliers were loaded. Perfect for a certain someone to pull up in a modified Mustang hover vehicle, painted crimson red.

Inside the vehicle, the man Asimov Solomon was currently in it. He was hunched a bit over due to his overcoat, slender build but hiding muscle underneath, a white shirt black pants and combat boots. His right and left forearms were cybernetic but had gold details to them, including the fingers: a symbol of a member of the El Dorado gang members.

With him was a hot Latina lady around his age, dressed in a red dress, leather jacket, red high heels, flowing brown hair and dazzling brown eyes. She was also sporting an eight-month pregnant belly as well. The man in question got out of his car and the woman followed.

* * *

**Bloody Mary Bar**

The Bloody Mary Bar was an open bar for people to go to, rich or poor. It was also a hangout for some retired fellas. One of which was a wrinkled Southerner with a cowboy hat, dressed with a ballcap, white shirt and a jersey jacket for the Dallas Cowboys, jeans and sneakers and had an artificial right arm with three fingers and a thumb. One of his friends was a latin American with a thick mustache, graying hair, wise brown eyes, wearing a white button up shirt, black jeans, and cowboy boots, who also wore a cowboy hat. And the last friend was a greying brown haired tanned man with a blue button-up shirt, a slouched look, and his lower body was that of robotic heavy legs that looked like baggy pants. They were currently sitting at a round table, smoking, drinking and playing a good game of poker.

The ballcapped man frowned, as he threw down his cards, seemingly lost, "This again? Sonovabitch! Takin' my money like that, ya cheatin' dogs! Why the only reason you can even live here is because of what I've done. I worked real hard with my two good buddies to rebuild this state. Construction, rewiring, even plantin' crops so we could have all the conveniences!"

The cowboy hatted fellah chuckled, "We know, we're the two good buddies that worked alongside you. And you always spout this nonsense when you're losin', dangit."

"That we did," the third old man nodded, "That we did. We worked like there was no tomorrow. We even planted seeds for them crops like there was no tomorrow."

His two friends arched an eyebrow, as the cowboy-hatted one retorted, "You were always plantin' seeds of a different kind, if I recall correctly."

At that moment before the conversation went further, the door opened, as Asimov and his lady friend walked right in. the three men looked as they saw them both go to the counter and sit at the chairs. The barkeep, asked, "Can I get you two anything?"

"Give me a beer," Asimov ordered.

The woman then replied to the barkeeper with a Spanish cadence in her voice, "And I'll have a bloody mary. In fact, make it a double."

The barkeeper arched an eyebrow, as he replied, while serving Asimov his beer, "I've got Vodka, but I'm afraid I'm fresh out of tomato juice."

Asimov smirked, "I'm sure there's one more in the back." With a careful motion, Asimov pulled out a small red vial out of his inner jacket pocket.

The barkeeper stopped what he was doing and walked to the back, but not before he signaled Asimov, who gradually got up and followed him in the back. The old men were still at the game, not paying attention, but not before the cowboy-hatted one looked outside, and saw vehicles park out.

The man hummed to himself, as he arched an eyebrow, "Hmmm, either a party or trouble." His friends blinked in confusion, until he replied, "What's coming this way."

In the back, Asimov was showing the barkeeper, who apparently was a buyer or distributor, the vial, as he smirked, "Premium Red Eye. Optical enhancers for organic and cyber alike."

"So that's the real Bloody Eye, eh?" the barkeeper asked, and then pulled out what appeared to be an eye sprayer no bigger than a laser pointer, "I'll need a demo." And then tossed it at Asimov, who graciously caught it.

Asimov loaded the sprayer with the single vial, and then sprayed his eyes like he was using eye drops. For a moment, nothing happened, until Asimov stuttered as his eyes opened wide, and the white of them turned bloodshot red. In his eye point-of-view, things were turning shades of red, and all time seemed to slow down as this happened. He looked at the door, and saw armed men about to bust in.

The bloodshot eyed man smirked, "Yeah. Keep those eyes open."

Suddenly, gunfire erupted, hitting the barkeep killing in instantly, as Asimov quickly dodged with inhuman speed. As the men busted in, in Asimov's eyes, it was as if time was slowing down for him, making it easy to counterattack against them. His girlfriend was ducking behind a table used as a barrier, while the old trio were behind a table, waiting for the barrage to end. Suddenly, the two gunmen were thrown out of the back, as they lied broken and dead, as Asimov rushed over, with a look of murderous glee as he was gunning ready to kill the rest.

* * *

**Hours Later**

Drew and Hank looked at the carnage of the scene that used to be the bar. There were holes everywhere and that was including the broken glass and the shredded door. The bottles of booze and alcohol was enough to make even the weakest willed alcoholic cry his/her eyes out. But the bodies were a different story. While the bartender was being put in a body bag, the hitmen, counting around 10, or at least parts of them, were all broken, twisted, and shredded. It was like a gorilla cyberized had gone postal on all of them, without having to shred a single bullet. This was a one-sided fight, and not in the hitmen's favor.

Drew looked around and spotted a gas station nearby, as he strode to it, "I'll check over at the gas station. See if there was anyone over there or a vid cam that caught something."

The older bounty hunter shrugged, as he strode inside the bar. He looked around casually until he sat at the counter table, peering over. He smirked as he saw a bottle and picked it up to confirm it, "Presidente, eh? I heard that 7th Street had all these horded including the distillery. Guess this bar must make dealings with local gangs." Hank already surmised that the bar itself was some kind of buyer to gang goods, which probably must have been why Asimov was here int eh first place instead of laying low. He was trying to peddle something. But he arched an eyebrow, as he smirked, "Well, it's 5 O'clock somewhere. Think I'll have some. On the house."

However, a car pulling over caught his attention before he could sip the bottle.

At that moment, two cyberized El Dorado gang members had crashed in. they looked like Cartel enforcers from a South American mafia back in the original Tijuana; fancy summer garb, shorts, but also armed with machetes, sub-machine guns, and like the gang members, they had gold plated cybernetics on them.

The bigger member sighed, "Ah, that vendeho's been here, amigo. And it's happened again. Like the last bars."

He walked in along with the smaller member as they leaned on the bar, not noticing Hank had ducked in from behind and kept hidden, as they turned their backs in his direction.

Though the smaller member suggested, "Maybe we should let the Rent-a-Cops take care of Asimov. As long as he's using that Bloody Eye to enhance his reflexes, we can't beat him."

"Are you nuts? If the cops get wind of this stuff, they'll have us all in nut vices," the bigger member replied, "Besides, if we don't get him, we'll all be twisting in the wind, as 7th Street puts it."

"Yo"

The two gang members turned around, only for Hank to punch the tall one with his cyber arm. But before the little guy could do anything, Hank jumped out and pinned him to the wall. He then brought up his cyber arm, and then suddenly two sword blades shot out like claws, trapping his face on both sides, as he nearly wet himself as he whimpered. Hank closed in until their noses are six inches apart, as he smirked, "Why don't you tell me some more about this Bloody Eye…"

* * *

**Meanwhile**

**At the Gas Station**

Drew had walked in on the store, hoping to get something to drink, but he didn't notice the girl that Asimov was with buying food and drinks. Though at the moment, Asimov was currently at the bathroom, puking his guts out. Apparently an overdose of the Bloody Eye was internal stomach problems, and that was just one symptom, as Asimov was sweating profusely in the stall. Once he was done, he looked out and saw a young Sweeper boy getting an energy Drink, Go-Beast, as he registered at the counter. But then he spotted the boy to where his girl was out at.

Once Drew opened the door to leave, he accidentally bumped into a woman. He stumbled a bit, as he writed himself, but then blinked as he saw the downed woman picking up her groceries. Noticing her pregnancy, he bent down and began helping her. She blinked at this man's kindness, a rarity in Scrap Iron at all. Once he helped her up, he apologized, "Sorry for knocking into you like that. My mind was on something at the moment. A job, if you would."

The lady giggled, "Yeah, I could see you zoned out enough you couldn't notice me."

Allison, on the other hand was a bit annoyed that Drew seemed to flirt with another girl as she groaned, 'Ugh, Drew… seriously? She's way older than you! Are you into cougars now?!'

Drew offered to help refuel her vehicle, and she accepted it, as the two talked, "May I ask you something?"

He nodded, as he allowed the mother-to-be the question, "Be my guest."

"Have you ever been to OLYMPUS," the lady asked.

The young man shook his head, knowing full well to expect the question, as he answered, "Nobody's ever been to OLYMPUS. At least nobody on the surface here. And the people that hijack a lift illegally to use the Rejuv stations barely get a chance to do so too."

"I hear they have everything up there, aside from the Rejuv Stations. They have parades, good food, homes, and that the people are happy there," the lady replied, looking up at the floating anchored city in place.

Drew shrugged, "Well yeah. But only for those who are born there. Or rich enough to buy their way up there."

The lady seemed to warm up to that, as she closed her eyes, looking back down to the ground in blissful and wishful thinking, "Then I'm quite sure that my boyfriend and I will be quite happy."

A moment of silence was swept about them, as Drew observed the woman. Her pregnancy and the way she walked seemed a bit off. She carried herself as pregnant, holding the bundle in her tummy but she didn't seem to slow her pace, which was essential to have the child save from miscarriage. The sound of the pump clicking was the sign that the gas was done pumping, as he put the nozzle away and screw the tank's top back on. Once he closed the lid, he then asked, "So you and Asimov are planning to escape to OLYMPUS." The woman blinked, almost looking both surprised and worried, and wanted to ask him how he knew, but she let him go on, "Go ahead. But how far do you think you'll get? If it's not the Sweepers that'll get you or the gangs that are chasing you, it'll be the Floating City's unarmed defenses that'll take you down."

She finally spoke up, her tone more worried than angry, "Who are you?"

Drew sighed, as he turned to face her, having a small sympathetic smile on his face, "I'm just an old-fashioned cowboy. Or an old-fashioned samurai. Whichever one you call us."

The woman sneered calmly as she put it two-and-two together, "You're a bounty hunter. A Sweeper."

Drew nodded, "Pretty much."

"And you're after us, is that it?"

"Your boyfriend is a sicko considering all the bodies he piled up." Drew replied. Not noticing the three shadows behind him, "Even though he's small-fry, I still have a job to do."

"Who's small-fry, kid?"

Before he could act, Drew was shot at by two harpoon lines, and then surges of electricity were fired into his body. The ones who did was Grey Walker and a freshly escaped Dale Boyd, who seemed to look at the boy's twitching and spasming body with sadistic pleasure, after sporting a few bruises form the forced beat down he got. Both lines were coming from his prosthetic arm and his partners, who had two prosthetic cyber arms. And Asimov was in the middle, walking up behind him with what appeared to be a samurai sword fitted with a plasma blade that burned red. He smiled sadistically as he was planning to behead the boy.

However, Asimov's girl screamed, "Asimov! That's enough! He's just a boy!"

Asimov stopped, as he turned to see another hunter, as he cried out, "Shit, his partner! Let's go!"

The two men looked and saw who it was: Hank Ducard, as they bolted into the car, with the lady getting into the passenger side. Though she stole a glance at the boy and apologized, "Adios, Cowboy." And closed the door as they bailed.

Drew laid on the ground, twitching until everything went black.

* * *

_He couldn't remember what happened next. It was all a haze, but memories flooded in. Him dressed in nothing but rags and a trench coat, pushing a cart with a mini projector of Allison on his shoulder. But on that night, he met the Hunter that stood up for him at the Factory he used to work at. Flashes of him helping him fight off bounties including a giant of a man pushing him to his limits. He suddenly changed and morph shape, becoming something more animal than man, as he was able to rip off the giant's arm. Once it had been calm and the giant missing, Ducard pulled a gun at the tired transforming boy, and only a look of confusion was on his face, as one question was asked:_

_"What the heck are you."_

* * *

However, his eyes flickered on again, as he saw Allison hovering above him, looking relieved, as she was tearing up, "Oh, you're alive."

Drew blinked wearily, as he asked to be sure, "Allie?"

"Your systems shut down after the shock," Allison relayed to him, but smiled, "But we stayed to keep an eye on you until you woke up."

Drew looked to his right and saw Ducard leaning on one of the pumps, as he had his arms crossed, looking down on him. It wasn't a look of disappointment, though it was rare to see any emotion on Ducard that wasn't his stone expression. But he did ask, "Had yourself a nap?"

"I had a trip down memory lane," Drew replied as he slowly got back to his feet. "It was when we first met after my upgrade. And then after when I wanted to be your apprentice."

"That's heartwarming and nostalgic," Ducard replied, as he looked ahead, "We can probably reminisce back at Dyson's. I'm cashing my chips out on this one."

Drew blinked, "Huh?"

"It turns out when Asimov left the El Dorado, he took something his gang stole from the Red Eyes," Ducard explained. "It's a new type of Performance Enhancer called Bloody Eye."

The young Sweeper blinked, as he arched an eyebrow, "Bloody Eye?"

"It's a new kind of Optic Performance Enhancer steroid/stimulant for Cyborgs, but it's already making huge waves," Allison explained the drug's effects. "Sprayed on the eyes, it causes enhanced sensory perception and reflexes for a short duration. Basically it makes time feels like it's slowing down, all the while your reflexes are going faster and more perceptive."

"Only downside is it doesn't last long and it reeks havoc on your bodily organs. That and it takes two months to make at least one pure vial of the stuff," Ducard further explained. "Which he stole all of it, making him rather unfavorable to his boys and the Red Eyes. They keep sending hit teams after him but all they get back are bodies."

Drew stretched out a little, as he added in, "They're trying to buy their way up to OLYMPUS. Though in order to do that, they have to sell the Bloody Eye."

Allison and Hank looked at him as they figured that, as Drew then smirked, "We just need to figure out where their next stop is."

"They're headed for the Zorne Norte," an old voice spoke up. The trio looked and saw the same three old guys who had played poker at the bar that got destroyed. The cowboy hatted one threw something at Drew, which he caught and saw it was one of the vials, "It fell out of his pocket during the fight. Afterwards, we heard him mumblin' to his lady about going to that particular bar."

Hank walked up to Drew to look at it, and then to the old men and asked, "What's your price?"

"You just make that sunovabitch pay for trashin' our favorite bar hangout," the ballcap man replied.

* * *

**Later On**

**Zorne Norte**

Hour later, Asimov, who was looking pretty rough, was accompanying his lady to the Zorne Norte bar, which was another Mexican theme bar restaurant. Asimov spotted a man wearing a poncho and a Sombrero and walked on over to him. He sat next to the guy, as he used the similar code phrases, "So do you have any Bloody Mary's?"

"I only have Beer," he said in a deep gruff voice.

"I've got the tomato Juice."

"How much?"

"30 million credits."

"Make it 15 and you got yourself a deal, amigo," the poncho man replied.

Asimov shook his head, "I'm in a bit of a rush." He was about to leave, but the man stopped him with a simple hand grab.

Once he got his attention, the man let go and asked, still hiding his face behind the poncho, "Show me what you got." Asimov smirked, as he reached into his coat pocket, but then paled as the vial from before he was missing. The poncho man then pulled out the vial in search, "Looking for this, Mr. Solomon?" Asimov backed off as the man got up, "Do you know how much your bounty's worth?"

"What?" Asimov asked, not noticing the man's latin tan was fading to a Caucasian tan.

"3.5 million. That's your bounty. But added to Dale Boyd and Grey Walker's, each worth 1.5, you're all added to the amount of nearly 7 million," the man explained. And then his voice was made younger and more familiar, "For small fry, you guys are gonna put beef back in the bell peppers and beef for dinner tonight." And then he threw his sombrero off, revealing himself to be Drew, much to Asimov and his gal's surprise, "What? You look surprised."

"You look ridiculous in that outfit," Asimov countered. "I thought you said you didn't deal with small fry."

"Yeah, but the small fry I'm dealing with is causing a lot of problems peddling a bullseye with him everywhere," Drew replied.

Asimov was getting pissed as he threatened, "If you keep yammering, there's gonna be another body. Now hand over the vial."

Drew smirked, "Sure, I'd be glad to. I do have to pay you and your goons back for the electro-shock therapy." And then threw up the vial… and then shot at it.

Asimov fumed as he charged in, getting into a hand-to-hand combat fight. However, Drew's body reverted to his Nano-Cyborg form, surprising the guy and his lady. But even more so, Drew was easily overpowering him by dodging with ease and delaing blows at him well. Stumbling back, Asimov charged at him, the effects of the Bloody Eye still in effect, smashing through a table. However, from what was seen, Drew was clearly overpowering the man in this fight, with a few shots to the face and the abdomen. The lady was attempting to shoot Drew, but the fight was too fast that it was almost impossible to follow.

Suddenly, cars and shots were heard causing the scene to look and witness more of the El Dorado gang attempting to go after Asimov. This interrupted the fight, as all three dodged the bullets and took cover. However, Asimov saw this as his chance and bolted out of there with his girl. Drew was attempting to go after them, all the while the El Dorados showed up. Though they were suddenly blown up by huge grenade blasts. From up above, Drew saw Ducard with a bazooka-like weapon, as he smirked, "Howya doin', kid?"

"Rotten! You're late, Hank!" Drew shouted, rather annoyed.

But suddenly a hgue crash was heard, as the two looked to see a giant robot with four legs and two crane-like arms. And in a cockpit of sorts, was Boyd and Walker, as they smirked, with Boyd boasting, "Hey, Nanmitz! Check out the new toy! Stole it from Mili-Tech just to take you down."

Ducard threw the bazooka away, as he called out, "Think you can handle this, kid?"

Drew sighed, as he stood up, "Yeah, I got this. You just go after Asimov and get that 3.5 mill."

Ducard bolted as he attempted to catch the couple, all the while Drew stood and cracked his knuckles, "It's just you and me, fellahs." And then bolted, as the mech was catching up to him.

"Die asshole," Boyd shouted, as a canning from the bottom firing at him, as he managed to dodge the blasts, as Boyd crushed, "Dammit!"

"Just how fast is this guy," Walker asked.

"Doesn't matter," Boyd shouted. And then operated the crane arms to smash him as he ran.

However, Drew turned around as he stopped as a Chasm edge, as Boyd shouted, "DIE!" and brought them both down… only for Drew to catch them with ease as he seemed to overpower them… with only one arm.

Walker was freaking out, "What the heck? How's he this strong? He's not even that huge!"

"Doesn't matter, just Die!"

And with his free hand, Drew pulled out his pistol, and armed it, "Grenade!" And fired a grenade right at the back legs. The explosion caused the mech to topple above him as he used the leverage to throw them down the chasm, as they screamed down below. Though Drew blinked at this, as he realized what had happened. "Oh boy…"

* * *

**Meanwhile**

A man was currently fueling up a blue hover vehicle that looked like a stingray, and minding his own business, until he heard a gun click. He turned around and saw Asimov and his lady who was holding the gun, as she warned, "Don't move! I don't want to shoot you!" All the while Asimov hijacked the vehicle.

But before she boarded the cruiser, a few of the El Dorado members that didn't get bombed, managed to turn the corner, firing at them. She dodged it but was shot in the belly, as she gasped. Suddenly, vials of the Bloody Eye began pouring out, as she tried to prevent losing all of them. Apparently, her pregnancy was a cover to hide the fact that she was stashing the Red Eye. Asimov called out, "C'mon!" She managed to get in, but not before Asimov shouted, "Idiot! If we lose these, than we are fragged! Do you understand me?!" She was shocked to say the least, hearing his concern for the drug than for her.

Once they took off, Hank managed to grab a hover bike, as he sped after them both. The chase was a race to the intended target: the floating city of OLYMPUS. Asimov was going his best to shake the seasoned bounty hunter but the guy was too sharp. Asimov was huffing and puffing, the effects of the Bloody Eye wearing off, as he grabbed another vial, however, his woman paled at this.

She pleaded, "Asimov, no! you've taken too much!" But he continued to ignore her as she screamed, "No!" And he broek the vial at his eyes as the concoction splashed onto them in a fruitless effort to give him an edge. His aggressive behavior getting worse.

As Hank was speeding after them, he noticed that the Floating City's defenses were activating. It was no secret that nobody could get up there, as surrounding the Floating City were hovering satellite turrets, which were now currently beginning to take aim at the approaching air vehicles.

The woman saw this, as she looked at the turrets, and now at the aggressively addicted Asimov, as his breathing was becoming too heavy, and thought to herself, 'We'll never get out of here… I'll never see OLYMPUS.'

BANG!

Hank managed to get his vehicle to the side, as he heard the gunshot go off. Once he was at the side, he saw what had happened. The girl shot Asimov, and was now cradling his corpse. From what he heard of the Bloody Eye's effects, this was no doubt a mercy killing. But Hank still looked at the sight with shock, even at the calmness of the woman's face. Though he could tell this was just as tough on her as anyone would expect. Though she managed to say before he pulled back…

"Adios."

The turrets suddenly went off, firing openly at the cruiser as it shredded both the vehicle and its occupants to bits. The vials of Bloody Eye breaking and mixing with the explosion in crimson red. The hunt was over, but it still felt like the Hunters lost, as the death of the woman would probably haunt the others. Even Drew as he saw the explosion from below, as he pulled out both Boyd and Walker in shock, with their cyber limbs missing.

* * *

**Hours Later**

**Back at Dyson's**

Although Asimov was gone, they still had Boyd and Walker still alive, so they were at least able to get the 3 Million bounty on the two. With that, they managed to have Bell Peppers and Beef for dinner. And thankfully this time, they had the beef with it, much to Hank's silent delight.

Though Dyson inquired, "Still Drew… wasn't it a bit overkill to take their cyber limbs even after you caught them?"

"That's the weird thing, I didn't take their limbs," Drew explained, earning everyone's surprise, as eh explained. "When I climbed down, I found them writhing in pain and their cyber limbs missing. Apparently, the procedure was done in a way that they continuously felt pain even without the pain receptors shut off. Whoever did this to them, wanted them to make sure they suffered. Though considering what they did, they probably deserved it."

* * *

**Meanwhile**

**Elsewhere**

IN the darkest slums, a gang of hoodlums were near a vehicle, who were purchasing the cyber limbs. Once the money was traded, the truck drove away, with the kids walking away with credits. The last one in the rear, seemingly female, looked at a pile in her hand, as she smirked, "Another stepping stone to my dream."

She looked up at the Floating City as she smiled, under a cloak and hood. But her left eye began to glow, almost glowing at the city itself as she smiled, "Just wait a moment longer, OLYMPUS. I'm going to fulfill the dream of being there to see what's up there and learn all your secrets."

* * *

**Next Chapter: The Kitten and the Wolf; Start of Connections**

* * *

**Sorry if the chapter came out short and rushed, I just have a lot to catch up on and so much to do.**


End file.
